EGP

WORKING DOCUMENT FOR REVISION

Introduction to phonetics and pronunciation

Click on the link below and practice the given activity

https://youtu.be/Vu6UVwkUgzc
Activities in Part One are about phonemes and phonetics transcription in
relation with culture vocabularies
Question1.In groups of 10 students, carry out a research on the following questions
and prepare the oral presentation
a) What do you understand by IPA?
b) What are the phonemes in English language and how many are they?
c) What do you think is culture?
d) Write 20 vocabulary words in relation with culture and write them in phonetic
transcription

e) Write example of 5 words at each vowel sound here: /ɪ/ /ʊ/ /ə/ /e/ /ɒ/ /ʌ/ /æ/
f) Write example of 5 words at each vowel sound here vowels: /iː/ /uː/ /ɑː/ /ɔː/ /ɜː/
g) Write example of 5 words at each vowel sound here: /eɪ/ /aɪ//ɔɪ/ /əʊ/ /aʊ/ /ɪə/
/eə/ /ʊə/
h) In pronunciation, some vowels or consonants may be silent, prove it with
some examples?
i) Do English letters or alphabets differ from English phonemes? Prove this with
some examples?

International Phonetic Alphabet

How can you pronounce a word you've never read? It can be a bit tricky. How about a word in a
foreign language? Now that must be impossible! Or is it? Imagine a set of symbols that could tell
you how to pronounce any word in any language on the planet? Well that is exactly what the
International Phonetic Alphabet is. Currently, the IPA consists of 107 sound symbols, 52
diacritics (accents) and 4 prosodic marks (intonations) encompassing virtually every phoneme
used in every language on the earth. So, for any written word, you can identify the associated

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phoneme symbols, and with a bit of practice, pronounce the word! Congratulations, you can
speak Greek now!

The IPA was created by the International Phonetic Association. Founded in 1886 in Paris, their
original mission was to help school children pronounce words in foreign languages and to aid
in the teaching of reading. Today their mission is to promote the scientific study of phonetics.
The 44 phonemes in English
Despite there being just 26 letters in the English language there are approximately 44 unique
sounds, also known as phonemes. The 44 sounds help distinguish one word or meaning from
another. Various letters and letter combinations known as graphemes are used to represent
the sounds.

The 44 English sounds fall into two categories: consonants and vowels. Below is a list of the 44
phonemes along with their International Phonetic Alphabet symbols and some examples of
their use. Note that there is no such thing as a definitive list of phonemes because of accents,
dialects and the evolution of language itself. Therefore, you may discover lists with more or
less than these 44 sounds.
A. Consonants

IPA
Phoneme Symbol Graphemes Examples

1 b b, bb bug, bubble

2 d d, dd, ed dad, add, milled

3 f f, ff, ph, gh, lf, ft fat, cliff, phone, enough, half, often

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 5

IPA
Phoneme Symbol Graphemes Examples

4 g g, gg, gh,gu,gue gun, egg, ghost, guest, prologue

5 h h, wh hop, who

6 dʒ j, ge, g, dge, di, gg jam, wage, giraffe, edge, soldier, exaggerate

k, c, ch, cc, lk, qu kit, cat, chris, accent, folk, bouquet, queen, rack,
7 k
,q(u), ck, x box

8 l l, ll live, well

9 m m, mm, mb, mn, lm man, summer, comb, column, palm

10 n n, nn,kn, gn, pn net, funny, know, gnat, pneumonic

11 p p, pp pin, dippy

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12 r r, rr, wr, rh run, carrot, wrench, rhyme

sit, less, circle, scene, psycho, listen, pace,

13 s s, ss, c, sc, ps, st, ce, se
course

14 t t, tt, th, ed tip, matter, thomas, ripped

15 v v, f, ph, ve vine, of, stephen, five

16 w w, wh, u, o wit, why, quick, choir

17 z z, zz, s, ss, x, ze, se zed, buzz, his, scissors, xylophone, craze

18 ʒ s, si, z treasure, division, azure

19 tʃ ch, tch, tu, ti, te chip, watch, future, action, righteous

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 6

IPA
Phoneme Symbol Graphemes Examples

sh, ce, s, ci, si, ch, sci, sham, ocean, sure, special, pension, machine,
20 ʃ
ti conscience, station

21 θ th thongs

22 ð th leather

23 ŋ ng, n, ngue ring, pink, tongue

24 j y, i, j you, onion, hallelujah

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B. Vowels

Graphemes Examples

25 æ a, ai, au cat, plaid, laugh

26 eɪ
a, ai, eigh, aigh, ay, er, et, bay, maid, weigh, straight, pay, foyer,
ei, au, a_e, ea, ey filet, eight, gauge, mate, break, they

27 e
end, bread, bury, friend, said,
e, ea, u, ie, ai, a, eo, ei, ae many, leopard, heifer, aesthetic

28 i: e, ee, ea, y, ey, oe, ie, i, ei, be, bee, meat, lady, key, phoenix, grief, ski,
eo, ay deceive, people, quay

29 ɪ i, e, o, u, ui, y, ie it, England, women, busy, guild, gym, sieve

30 aɪ

i, y, igh, ie, uy, ye, ai, is, spider, sky, night, pie, guy, stye, aisle,
eigh, i_e island, height, kite

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 7

IPA
Phoneme Symbol Graphemes Examples

31 ɒ a, ho, au, aw, ough swan, honest, maul, slaw, fought

o, oa, o_e, oe, ow, ough, open, moat, bone, toe, sow, dough, beau,
32 oʊ
eau, oo, ew brooch, sew

33 ʊ o, oo, u,ou wolf, look, bush, would

34 ʌ u, o, oo, ou lug, monkey, blood, double

o, oo, ew, ue, u_e, oe, ough, who, loon, dew, blue, flute, shoe, through,
35 u:
ui, oew, ou fruit, manoeuvre, group

36 ɔɪ oi, oy, uoy join, boy, buoy

37 aʊ ow, ou, ough now, shout, bough

38 ə a, er, i, ar, our, ur about, ladder, pencil, dollar, honour, augur

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39 eəʳ air, are, ear, ere, eir, ayer chair, dare, pear, where, their, prayer

40 ɑ: a arm

bird, term, burn, pearl, word, journey,

41 ɜ:ʳ ir, er, ur, ear, or, our, yr
myrtle

aw, a, or, oor, ore, oar, our, paw, ball, fork, poor, fore, board, four,
42 ɔ:
augh, ar, ough, au taught, war, bought, sauce

43 ɪəʳ ear, eer, ere, ier ear, steer, here, tier

44 ʊəʳ ure, our cure, tourist

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Source: https://www.dyslexia-reading-well.com/44-phonemes-in-english.html

Language structures: The present simple tense

1) The present simple tense is used to express habits or what we do (not do) every day
Ex: Mary prays every day
2) The present simple is used with frequency adverbs
- Mary usually goes to work on foot.
- I never go to the pub alone.
- We sometimes go out on Sundays.
Activity: Think of something you do and say this to your partner. This might be your daily
routines. You can use frequency adverbs in your conversations.
The simple present tense has the form of an infinitive without to, except the third person
singular: I do / you do/ she, he it does/ we do /you do/ they do

Note:
– We add s to regular verbs in the third person singular: she/he sings/plays/speaks

– Verbs ending in -ch, -sh, -o, -x take es in the third person singular: she/he boxes, brushes,
goes, does, teaches, catches

– Verbs ending in –y following a consonant changes –y into “i” and add –es: she/ he
studies, cries, tries, she/he/it flies

– In questions and negatives we use the auxiliary “do”. Examples: Do you go to school
every day? / Does he eat meat? She does not play volleyball. / They do not live in this
town.

The simple present is also used to express:

3) Permanent or long-lasting situations
Where do you work?
The store opens at 9 o’clock.
She lives in New York.
4) Regular habits and daily routines
I usually get up at 7 o’clock.
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She doesn’t often go to the cinema.
When do they usually have lunch?
5) Facts
The Earth revolves around the sun.
What does ‘strange’ mean?
Water doesn’t boil at 20 degrees.
6) Feelings
I love walking around late at night during the summer.
She hates flying!
What do you like? I don’t want to live in Texas.
7) Opinions and states of mind
He doesn’t agree with you.
I think he is a wonderful learner.
What do you consider your best accomplishment?
8) Timetable and schedules
The plane leaves at 4 p.m.
When do courses begin this semester?
The train doesn’t arrive until 10:35.
Common present time expressions include:
For expressing the routines with the simple present the words like: Usually, always, often,
sometimes, on Saturdays, at weekends (on weekends), rely, on occasion, never, seldom are used
these are what we refer to as adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something is done.
Adverbs of frequency include: always, constantly, continually, frequently, infrequently,
intermittently, normally, occasionally, often, periodically, rarely, regularly, seldom, sometimes,
etc.
For example: I always do my homework on time.
 In this sentence shows us the frequency (how often) I do my homework on time.

She goes out occasionally.

 In this sentence occasionally shows us the frequency (how often) she goes out.

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  Most frequent

Adverbs of frequency Adverbs of frequency

Generally Sometimes
Normally Periodically
Always Occasionally
Nearly always Once in a while
Quite always Rarely
Almost always Seldom
Regularly Barely
Usually Hardly
Frequently Scarcely
Most often Almost never
Often Never
Ever

Here is the link summarizing what those adverbs of frequency mean in percentages:
https://youtu.be/VAWo65QwP2

Transcript

Least frequent
1. Adverbs of frequency appear between the subject and the verb in a sentence:
For example: I always update the calendar at the beginning of the month.
Patricia often takes notes during the Skype sessions.

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 2. Adverbs of frequency appear after a form of ‘to be—am, are, is (was, were) in a
sentence:
For example: I am never late.
His visit was occasionally frustrating.
They were always noisy.
3. Adverbs of frequency go between an auxiliary verb and the main verb:
For example: Anne doesn’t usually smoke.
If there are two auxiliary verbs, the adverb of frequency goes between them:
For example: I have never been to Asia.
4. In some cases, the adverbs of frequency often, usually, sometimes and occasionally
can go at the beginning of a sentence:
For example: Usually I don’t give personal advice. =I don’t usually give personal advice.
Occasionally we go for a drive on a Sunday, =we occasionally go for drive on a Sunday.
5. Adverbs of frequency go before the expressions‘used’ to or ‘have to’:
For example: I always used to celebrate bonfire night.
I usually have to get up early to walk Laika.
6. When something happens regularly at a fixed time we can use the following as
adverbs:
Every day = daily
Every week = weekly
Ever fortnight =fortnightly
(Two weeks)
Every month = monthly
Every year = yearly/annually
For example: I get a newspaper every day. = I get the newspaper daily.
I pay my rent every month. = I pay my rent monthly.

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The present continuous/progressive

a) Form: ‘be’ in simple present + present participle of the main verb (verb + -ing)
Examples: (i) Those children are singing my favorite song. (ii) We are moving to a new house.
b) Uses of the present continuous
1) Things that are happening now, at the moment

What are you doing?

She’s reading in the garden.
They’re not standing in the rain.
2) Actions happening in a period around the present moment in time

I’m reading “The surgeon’s Mate” by Patrick O’Brian.

Whose account are you working on?
She’s studying hard for her final exam.
3) Future plans and arrangements

We’re having leftovers this evening.

What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?
She isn’t coming on Friday.
Common present continuous time expressions include: At the moment, now, today, this week,
this month, tomorrow, next week (for future arrangements), currently…

Spelling rules for the formation of the present participle

Some verbs are not used in progressive forms
I love you. (Not I am loving you.)
I like this color. (Not I am liking this color.)
I rang her up because I wanted to speak to her. (NOT I rang her up because I was wanting to
speak to her.)
Many of these non-progressive verbs refer to states rather than actions.
Common non-progressive verbs
Here is a list of some common verbs which are not often used in progressive forms:
Believe, doubt, feel, imagine, know, dislike, love, hate, prefer, realize, recognize, remember, see,
suppose, think, understand, want, wish, appear, hear, look, see, seem, smell, sound, taste, agree,

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deny, astonish, disagree, impress, mean, please, promise, satisfy, surprise, belong, concern,
consist, depend, fit, involve, lack, matter, need, owe, own, possess, weigh etc.
Notes
Feel does not have a progressive form when it means ‘has an opinion’.
 I feel you are making a mistake. (NOT I am feeling you are making a mistake.)

See does not have a progressive form when it means ‘understand’.

 I see what you mean. (NOT I am seeing what you mean.)

Look does not have a progressive form when it means ‘seem’

 She looks like she is rich. (NOT she is looking like she is rich.)

Weigh does not have a progressive form when it means ‘have weight’.
 He weighs 70 kilos. (NOT he is weighing 70 kilos)

Language structures: The present continuous or progressive

1) The present progressive tense expresses an action taking place at the time of speaking

Ex: Pollution is spoiling the air we breathe, and it’s harming our health.
2) The present progressive tense also expresses changes/things that are changing these days.

Ex: Janet is being generous.

The price of meat is going up (rising) fast/slowly.
The price of maize is going down (falling).
Activity: Think of the prices of commodities in your region and tell your partner.
Common verbs with state meanings
1. Mental state

Know, realize, understand, recognize, believe, feel, suppose, feel, think, imagine, doubt,
remember, forget, want, need, desire, mean
2. Emotional state

Love, like, appreciate, please, prefer, hate, dislike, fear, envy, mind, care, astonish, amaze,
surprise
3. Possession

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Possess, have, own, belong
4. Sense; Perceptions

Taste, smell, hear, feel, see

5. Other existing states

Seem, look, appear, be, sound, resemble, look like, cost, owe, weigh, equal, be, exist, matter,
consist of, contain, include,…
Note: Some verbs can be progressive and non-progressive, with a different meaning.
Example:
1. I think Roberto is a kind man.

I am thinking about this grammar.

2. I see a butterfly; do you see it too?

Jane is seeing a doctor about her headaches.

Jack and Ann are seeing each other. They go out together every weekend.
3. Kathy looks out of the window. She sees a butterfly.

Tina is looking out the window; she sees a butterfly.

4. Sam appears asleep. Let me not disturb him.

My favourite actor is appearing at the Paramount.

5. Ann has a car.

I am having a hard time, but Olga is having good time.

6. I remember my first teacher. Do you remember yours?

Aunt is looking through an old picture album. She is remembering the wonderful days of her
childhood.
7. This piano is too heavy for me to lift. It weighs too much.

The grocer is weighing the bananas.

Some spellings of –ING and-ED forms
One-syllable Verbs ending in Stop stopping stopped
verbs one vowel and Rob robbing robbed
one consonant

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 Beg begging begged
Put putting (put)
Cut cutting (cut)
Drop dropping dropped
Verbs ending in Rain raining rained
two vowels and a Fool fooling fooled
consonant Dream dreaming dreamed
Two-syllable First syllable Listen listening listened
verbs stressed Offer offering offered
Open opening opened
Develop developing developed
Second syllable Begin beginning (began)
stressed Prefer preferring preferred
Control controlling controlled
Note: Vie vying Vied
Language structures: Present perfect tense

A. The form
The presentperfect is formedwithsubject+ have/has+pastparticiple of the main verb.
b. The use
 To express/indicate complete activities in the immediate past.
e.g: They have gone to Kigali in the bus.
We have already eaten.
The man has just eaten.
 To describe actions which began in the past and still continuing
e.g : I have lived in Nairobi since 2013.
He has lived in this house for five years.
 To express past actions whose time is not given.
e.g : Have you read the book before ?
He has been to Japan.
EXPRESSIONS USED TOGETHER WITH PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
A. JUST
It is used with present perfect and it means «a short time ago»
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 e.g: I have just eaten.
A: Are Jane and David here?
A: Yes, they have just arrived
B. ALREADY
It is used with present perfect and it means”before you expected”.
e.g: A: What time are Jane and Paul coming?
B: They have already arrived.
C. YET
It is used with present perfect and it means until now/ so far. It can be used in negative
sentences and in questions. Yet is usually at the end of the sentence.
Yet in negative sentences
e.g: A: Are Jane and John here
B: They haven’t arrived yet.
A: Does john know that you are going away?
B: No, I haven’t told him yet.
Yet in questions
e.g: A: Have the parents arrived yet?
B: No we are still waiting for them.
A: Has Linda started her new job yet
B: No, she is starting next week

D. FOR
As since, for is used when you want to say how long an action was done.
e.g: tom is in England. He has bee
n there for three days.
We use for + a period of time
(three days, two years etc)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

For three days

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For three days, an hour, a week, a month, five years, ten minutes, two hours, six months, a long
time, etc
e.g: Richard has been in Canada for six months (not since six months)
E. SINCE
As for, since is used when we want to say how long an action was done.
We use since + the start of time
(Monday, 1990 etc)
Now
Monday

A. Activity 4

Use: ever, just, since, for, already, yet and ago

1. Have you……eaten chips?
2. They have…….left the campus. You can’t find them here.
3. I haven’t seen my friend……..weeks.
4. I first went to Europe 10 years……
5. We haven’t finished the work…
6. We have been waiting ………..yesterday.
7. Chris has…..eaten meat. He is vegetarian.

Language structures: SIMPLE PAST TENSE

1. The simple past is used to talk about a past action which happened at a very specific time.

Eg: On Christmas Eve 1971 Juliana Koepke, a seventeen –year-old German girl, left Lima by air
with her mother.

2. The simple past is also used to talk about a series of past actions which happened one after
another.

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Ex: After four days Juliana came to a river. She saw caimans and piranhas, but she learnt that
they do not attack people.

Activity -Work with a partner and have a look at different forms of the simple past. Can say
Why verbs change differently in the simple past?

Activity -Work with a partner and have a look at different forms of the simple past from the
extract of Saint Augustine’s life. Can you say why verbs change differently in the simple past?

Some spellings of –ING and-ED forms

One-syllable Verbs ending in Stop stopping stopped

verbs one vowel and Rob robbing robbed
one consonant Beg begging begged
Put putting (put)
Cut cutting (cut)
Drop dropping dropped
Verbs ending in Rain raining rained
two vowels and a Fool fooling fooled
consonant Dream dreaming dreamed
Two-syllable First syllable Listen listening listened
verbs stressed Offer offering offered
Open opening opened
Develop developing developed
Second syllable Begin beginning (began)
stressed Prefer preferring preferred
Control controlling controlled
Note: Vie vying Vied
Used to/be used to/get used to
Note: The simple past also used to express past habits
Ex.: -When I was small I used to cry.
-I used to go mountaineering when I was 18.

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The negative form is ‘I didn’t use to” while the interrogative is “ did you use to”.
Ex:-When I was I Belgium, I didn’t use to drive on the left.
-Did you use to study very hard when you were in secondary school?
Get used to means something is/was new to me and then I have to get familiar with it. Be used
to means something is no longer new to me; I am familiar with it.\
Ex: When Pascaline was in Germany, she wasn’t used to driving on the left; so, she got used to
driving on the left. Now she is used to it. Driving on the left is no longer a problem for Pascline.

Activity 1
-Think of your past habits and tell your partner. Can you ask her/him about his/her
past habits?
-Discuss the traditional way of life of Rwandan people.
Examples:
 You called Debbie.

 Did you call Debbie?

 You did not call Debbie.

USE 1: completed action in the past

Use the simple past tense to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time
in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have
one specific time in mind.
Examples:
 I saw a movie yesterday.

 I didn’t see a play yesterday.

 Last year, I traveled to Japan.

 Last year, I didn’t travel to Korea.

 Did you have dinner last night?

 She washed her car.

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  He didn’t wash his car

USE 2: A Series of completed actions

We use the simple past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1 st,
2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.
Examples:
 I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.

 He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at
10:00.

 Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?

USE 3: Duration in past

The simple past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a
longer action often indicated by expression such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all
year, etc.
Examples:
 I lived in Brazil for two years.

 Shauna studied Japanese for five years.

 They sat at the beach all day.

 They did not say at the party the entire time.

 We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.

 A: How long did you wait for them?

B: WE waited for one hour.

USE 4: Habit in the past

The simple past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the
same meaning as “used to” To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add
expressions such as: always, often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.
Examples:

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  I studied French when I was a child.

 He played the violin.

 He didn’t play piano.

 Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?

 She worked at the movie theater after school.

 They never went to school, they always skipped class.

USE 5: Past facts or generalizations

The simple past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are longer true.
As in USE 4 above, this use of the simple past is quite similar to the expression “used to”.
Example:
 She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.

 He didn’t like tomatoes before.

 Did you live in Texas when you were a kid?

 People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.

Spelling of the simple past regular forms

Some regular verbs change their spelling when the ending __edis added to form the past
participle.
Verbs ending in a silent “e”
When a regular verb ends in a silent e, only the letter d must be added in order to form the past
participle. For example:
Infinitive Past participle
To close Closed
To move Moved

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When a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to I before
the ending—ed is added. For example:
Infinitive Past participle
To study Studied
To rely Relied
To carry Carried

However, when a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a vowel, the y is not changed
before the ending—ed is added. For example:
Infinitive Past participle
To play Played
To convey Conveyed
To enjoy Enjoyed

Verbs ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel

The rules concerning the doubling of final consonants which apply when adding the ending ingto
form the present participle also apply when adding the edto form the past participle. For
example:
Infinitive Past participle
To rub Rubbed
To trim Trimmed
To plan Planned
To stop Stopped

When a verb of more than one syllable and in a single consonant other than w, x, or y
immediately preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled before the ending edonly
when the last syllable of the verb is pronounced with the heaviest stress.

For example:
Infinitive Past participle
To control Controlled
To infer Inferred

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 To occur Occurred
To permit Permitted

Compare
To fasten Fastened
To order Ordered
To focus Focused
To limit Limited

The final consonants w, x, and y are never doubled when the ending edis added
For example:
Infinitive Past participle
To follow Followed
To box Boxed
To portray Portrayed

It should also be noted that consonants immediately preceded by two vowels are not doubled
when the ending ed is added. For example:
Infinitive Past participle
To greet Greeted
To rain Rained
To soak Soaked
To treat Treated

Pronunciation of the –ed ending

The ending ed is usually not pronounced as a separate syllable. For instance:
Bare Infinitive Past participle
Puff Puffed
Work Worked
Miss Missed
Watch Watched
1. The /id/ sound

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 • If the last letter of the word is spelled with D or T, the ED is pronounced as a
separate syllable with an /id/ sound (it rhymes with kid and lid).
• wanted (sounds like "want-id")
• waited
• needed
• folded
2. The /t/ sound
• If the last consonant of the word is voiceless, then the ED is pronounced as a T. Be
careful not to create an extra syllable or "id" sound.
• talked (sounds like "talkt")
• kissed (the S sound comes from the front of mouth so it would sound like "kisst")
• parked
• helped
However, when the ending ed is added to verbs which end in –d—or –t-, the ed ending of the
past participle is pronounced ass a separate syllable. For example:

Bare Infinitive Past participle

Add Added
Land Landed
Hunt Hunted
Wait Waited

Similarly, when d is added to verbs ending in a silent e preceded by d or t, the final ed of the
past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. For example:
Bare Infinitive Past participle
Fade Faded
Glide Glided
Cite Cited
Note Noted

Irregular verbs

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In addition to regular English verbs, there are many irregular English verbs, which do not form
the past participle with the ending ed.

PAST CONTINUOUS/PROGRESSIVE

The past continuous describes actions continuing in the past.

Uses of the past progressive/continuous

a) We use the pat progressive to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a
certain time. The action had already started before this time but had not finished.
e.g. -At six o’clock on April 21, 1976, the man was having construction workers dig a hole.
-My wife and I were talking to guests then morning.
b) Describes actions happening at a specific point in the past: What were you doing yesterday at
8:00 a.m.?
c) Describes actions happening at the same time in the past: While I was reading, John was
playing the piano. / I was revising my lessons while my mother was making dinner.
d) Describes actions that were happening when a second action (simple past) happened: I was
watching TV whenmy mother called. When the phone rang, my brother was writing a letter;
then I answered it to know who was calling him. While I was talking on the phone, someone
knocked at the door.
Note: Is not used with the verbs “be”, “believe”, “belong”, “forget”, “have”, “hear”, “know”,
“like”, “love”, “need”, “perfect”, “remember”, “see”, “seem”, “understand”, or “want”.
Form of the past continuous
 Has the structure was/ were+ verb—ing.

 Add “not” between “was/ were” and the verb—ing to make a negative sentence: We
were not watching a movie on TV last Tuesday at 9 p.m.

 Uses “was/ were” as auxiliary verbs to make questions: Was she studying when you
arrived home? / Were they praying yesterday evening?

Past continuous vs Simple past

The past progressive and the past simple

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 The past progressive is used to express a longer background action; the simple past is used for
the shorter action which came in the middle, or interrupted what was going on.
E.g: I was getting ready to come home when the phone rang.
I found some old letters when/while I was cleaning the house.
They met while/when she was studying in Berlin.
When/while I was cleaning the house I found some oil.
ACTIVITY
https://youtu.be/hk4MjcRdTgc

Talking about Future plans

Language structure focus: Future tense
a. The form
The simple future expresses a future activity.

Eg: Large families will travel on long trips in complete comfort

We form the simple future with shall/will +bare infinitive

e.g: I, we shall
You, he, she, it, they, will work.
 The negative is formed with shall not/will not (shan’t/ won’t) + bare infinitive
e.g: I, we shall not/ shan’t
You, he, she, it, they, will not/ won’t work.
 the interrogative form is formed with shall/ will +subject +bare infinitive
e.g: Shall I, we
Will you, he, she, it, they work?
METHODS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE
 The forms shall and will are ones of a number of ways of expressing future but there are other
methods of expressing future.
Those are:
 The simple present
 The present continuous
 The going to form

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 To be +to infinitive
THE GOING TO FORM
This form is used to express a future with intention. The future with intention expresses the
actions that occur in the future and they are arranged/ planned by the subject.
e.g: It is going to rain; look at those clouds.
The boat is full of water it is going to sink.
She is going to have a baby.
I am going to do something = I have already decided to do it, I intend to do it.
e.g: are you going to watch the film on TV tonight?
No, I am going to revise my lesson.
 THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
The simple present tense with a future meaning is used for official programmes and timetables
(for public transports, cinemas etc.)
e.g:My train leaves at 11:30. So I need to be at the station by 11:15.
What time does the film begins this evening?
The college opens on 23rd June.
 THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

We use the present continuous tense for the future when we talk about something that we have
planned to do in the future.
e.g: I am tired. I am going to bed now. Good night.
What are you doing this evening?
Alex is getting married next month.
I am working tomorrow.
Compare
Present continuous Present simple
Usually for people For timetables, programmes, trains, bus,
 I am going to do a concert tomorrow concert, meeting, etc
 What time are they arriving?  The concert starts at 7:30
 I am going to the cinema  What time does your bus leaves?
 The film begins at 8:15 this evening

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 TO BE + INFINITIVE (BE ABOUT + INFINITIVE)
This form is used to talk about official plans and arrangement. It is commonly used in news
report to talk about events that are likely to happen in near future.
e.g: police officers are to visit every home in the area.
The president of the republic of Rwanda is to visit Karongi district.
You are not to leave without permission.
 C2. THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
a. The form

We form the future continuous tense by taking subject+ shall/will +be +bare infinitive added
the ing form
e.g: they will be eating and drinking in that party.
The negative is formed with subject + shall/ will +not + be + bare infinitive added the ing
form
e.g: They will not be eating.
The interrogative is formed with shall/will + subject + be + bare infinitive added the ing form
E,g: will they be eating?
b. The use

We use the future continuous tense to talk about actions which will be in progress at a time in
future.
e.g: This time next week, we will be doing a general quiz.
Can I see you at 5 o’clock? Please do not come, I will be watching tennis match on TV.
This time tomorrow, I will be sitting on the beach in Singapore.
C3. THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
The form
For formulating the future perfect tense, we use subject + will/shall + have + past participle of
a verb.
a. The use
The future perfect is used to indicate the completion of an activity by a certain time in future. It
expresses an activity that will be completed before time or event in future.
e.g: I will do English exam tomorrow, I am sure that I will have finished it at 12:00.
Come tomorrow at 11:00; I will have come back

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 C4. THE FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS
a. Formation
For forming the future perfect continuous, we use subject +will/shall +have +been +verb +ing
b. The use
The future perfect continuous indicates an action presented as being in progressing form over a
period of time in the future.
It emphasizes the duration of an activity which will be in progress before another time or event
in the future.
e.g: By next march, we shall have been living here for four years.
I will have been teaching for twenty years next July.
(Exercises: High school English grammar and composition p. 88)

Let’s focus on language structures: Quantifiers

Adjectives of quantity are used to answer questions like
“How many” to point out the number
“How much” to point out the amount.
A: DEFINITE NUMERAL ADJECTIVES
Definite numeral adjectives denote the exact number of persons or things.
e.g: I need one student in this class.
I have two pens
The first room is empty .
B: INDEFINITE NUMERAL ADJECTIVES
Indefinite numeral adjectives do not denote the exact number of persons or things.
e.g: all, much, many, some, any, several, a lot of, lots of,…..
MUCH
Much is used in negative and interrogative sentence before uncountable noun.
e.g: How much money have you got?
Is there much milk in the jug?
I don’t have much sugar.
MANY
It is used in all kinds of sentences before plural countable nouns.
e.g: They didn’t find many shirts in the market.

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Did you take many cups from the cupboard?
We have many books.
N.B: much is used in affirmative sentence after too, as, so as well as many.
e.g: He has got too much money.
There are too many people.
Take as much food as you want.
He has so many friends that he cannot count.
A LOT OF
It is used before countable and uncountable nouns.
e.g: He has got a lot of money.
There is a lot of noise in the class
I ate a lot of apples.
LOTS OF
It is used before countable and uncountable nouns.
e.g: Lots of books are sold in bookshop.
Lots of people in Rwanda were killed.
Lots of snows falls in winter.
SOME
It is used before countable and uncountable nouns in plural affirmative and interrogative
sentence.
We use some in questions when we offer or ask for something.
e.g:I want some money to buy a new house.
I have some more vegetables.
Do you want some food?
Can I have some sugar please?
ANY
It is used in negative and interrogative sentences, before countable and uncountable nouns.
e.g: I don’t have any question.
Do you want any book to read?
Is there any water in the jug?
A LITTLE
It is used before uncountable nouns. It has a positive sense.

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e.g: I need a little salt to add in my food.
He has taken a little water left in reservoir.
LITTLE
It is used in the same way as “a little” but it has a negative sense.
e.g: I have little money for ticket. (it is not sufficient; I cannot go.)
I have a little money for ticket. (it is only sufficient for I can go.)
A FEW
It is used before plural countable nouns. It has a positive sense.
e.g: I have a few friends to help me. (they are sufficient.)
I just took a few books from the bookcase.
FEW
It is used in the same way as “a few” but it has a negative sense.
e.g: Few friends accept to help us when we have problems.
Few people refuse bribes when given in secret.

Language structure 2. Articles

DEFINITE and INDEFINITE ARTICLES: the, a, an
The English language uses articles to identify nouns. Articles act much like adjectives. Articles
clarify whether a noun is specific or general, singular or plural. An article appears before the
noun it accompanies.
There are two types of articles
 Definite article: the
 Indefinite article: a, a.
General rules
 Place the article before the noun. e.g., the house
the cat a dog a book
 Place the article before the adjective when the noun is modified by an adjective. e.g., the purple
house the black cat a white dog an open book < Correct the house purple or a dog white <
Incorrect
 Do not add an article when the noun has a possessive pronoun (my, his, her, our, their) or a
demonstrative pronoun (this, that). e.g., my house her book that house this book < Correct the
my house or the this book < Incorrect DEFINITE ARTICLE: the

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 Use the to identify specific or definite nouns: nouns that represent things, places, ideas, or
persons that can be identified specifically.
 Use the with both singular and plural definite nouns. e.g., the house the houses the business the
businesses
 Use the to identify things, places, ideas, or persons that represent a specific or definite group or
category. e.g., The students in Professor Smith’s class should study harder. The automobile
revolutionized travel and industry. (the automobile identifies a specific category of
transportation)
INDEFINITE ARTICLE: a or an
 Use a or an to identify nouns that are not definite and not specific. - Think of a and an as
meaning any or one among many. e.g., a book (any book) a dog (any dog) a cat (one cat) a house
(one among many houses)
 Use a or an only for singular nouns.
 Do not use an article for a plural, indefinite noun.
- Think of a plural, indefinite noun as meaning all. e.g., Students should study hard. (All students
should study hard.) When to use a and when to use an
 Choose when to use a or an according to the sound of the noun that follows it. o Use a before
consonant sounds. e.g., a book a dog o Use a before a sounded h, a long u, and o with the sound
of w. e.g., a hat a house a union a uniform a one-hour appointment
 Use an before vowel sounds (except long u). e.g., an asset an essay an index an onion an
umbrella o Use an when h is not sounded. e.g., an honor an hour
NOTE: Computerized grammar checkers do not indicate missing or misused articles. Therefore,
you cannot depend on a computer grammar checker to alert you to missing or misused articles.
Language structures 3. Relative pronouns and relative clauses
The relative pronouns are:

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 Subject Object Possessive

who who/whom whose

which which whose

that that -

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses. Relative clauses tell us more about
people and things:

Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.

This is the house which Jack built.
Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.
We use:

 who and whom for people

 which for things
 that for people or things.

Two kinds of relative clause

There are two kinds of relative clause:

1. We use relative clauses to make clear which person or thing we are talking about:

34
Marie Curie is the woman who discovered radium.
This is the house which Jack built.
In this kind of relative clause, we can use that instead of who or which:

Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.

This is the house that Jack built.
We can leave out the pronoun if it is the object of the relative clause:

This is the house that Jack built. (that is the object of built)
Language structures 4. SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS

Subordinate conjunctions are linking words used to conjunctions are used to connect
subordinate clauses (also known as a dependent clauses) to main clauses (also known as
an independent clauses).
When a sentence has an independent clause (main clause) and at least one dependent clause, it is
known as a complex sentence. In a complex sentence, the dependent clause establishes a time, a
place, a reason, a condition, a concession, or a comparison for the main clause. The subordinate
conjunction therefore provides the bridge between the main clause and the dependent clause.
(Grammar Monster, 2020)

Examples
Function of the subordinate Examples
clause
Establishing timefor the main I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on
clause the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of
Establishing place for the
humanity.
main clause.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's
Establishing a reason for the
safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.
main clause

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 Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite
Establishing a condition for
clear to him.
the main clause

I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being

Establishing a concession
taught.
for the main clause.

Everyone else my age is an adult whereas I am merely in

Establishing a comparison
disguise.
for the main clause.

Note:
 When a subordinate clause functioning as an adverb starts a sentence, separate it from the
main clause with a comma. These are often called fronted adverbial clauses. A comma is
used with a fronted adverbial clause because the comma makes it clear where the main
clause starts.
 If you shoot at mimes, should you use a silencer? (Comedian Steven Wright)
 When a subordinate clause ends a sentence, you can drop the comma.
 Should you use a silencer if you shoot at mimes?
 I'm veering toward respectability now that I'm over sixty.

However, you can use a comma for a deliberate pause:

 Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons. (Film director
Woody Allen)
 Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite clear to him.

More examples of subordinate conjunctions

Note: Highlighted in the table are subordinate clauses introduced by subordinate conjunctions in
bold type.
Subordinate Category Example
conjunction
as reason As it's raining, I'm staying in.

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because reason I'm staying in because it's raining.
in order that reason In order that I don't miss the postman, I'm
staying in.
since reason Since you're going out, I'm staying in.
so that reason I'm staying in so that I don't miss the postman.
although concession and I'm staying in although I'd rather go out.
comparison
as concession and I'm staying in as you should.
comparison
even though concession and I'm staying in even though the sun is out.
comparison
just as concession and I'm staying in just as you should.
comparison
though concession and I'm staying in though I wish I weren't.
comparison
whereas concession and I'm staying in whereas you are going out.
comparison
while concession and I'm staying in while you are going out.
comparison
even if condition Even if it rains, I'm going out.
if condition If it rains, I'm staying in.
in case condition I'm staying in in case it rains.
provided that condition Provided it doesn't rain, I'm going out.
unless condition I'm going out unless it rains.
where place I fish where the waves start to form.
wherever place I will live wherever the weather is good.
after time I'm going out after the football.
as soon as time I'm going out as soon as the football has finished.
as long as time I'm staying out as long as the weather stays good.
before time I'm going out before the football.
once time I'm going out once the football has finished.
till time I'm staying out till the weather turns bad.

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 until time I'm staying out until the weather turns bad.
when time I'm going out when the weather improves.
whenever time I go out whenever the weather is good.
while time I'll stay out while the weather is good.

Language structure:

DIRECT SPEECH vs. REPORTED SPEECH

REPORTED STATEMENTS AND THOUGHTS

If you want to tell somebody what somebody else said in the past there are two ways of doing
this:
1. You can repeat the person’s words = direct speech;
e.g. John said, ‘I am hungry.’ / Mary said, ‘I like music.’ He thought, ‘The lesson is boring.’
2. You can also use reported speech / indirect speech.
e.g. John said that he was hungry. / Mary said that she liked music. / He thought that the lesson
was boring.
Note:
a. When we use reported speech, the main verb of the sentence is usually past. The rest of the
sentence is usually past, too.
e.g. He promised, ‘I will phone you.’ / He promised that he would phone me.
b. After present or future reporting verbs, the tense in reported speech does not become past.
e.g. - He thinks, ‘She’s beautiful.’ / He thinks that she is beautiful.
- He will probably say, ‘I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before.’ / He will probably say that he
is sure he has seen her somewhere before.
c. We can leave out ‘that’.
e.g. John told me that he listened to the radio in the morning. / John told me he listened to the
radio in the morning.
TENSES IN DIRECT SPEECH & REPORTED SPEECH
DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

38
1.Simple present tense Simple past tense
e.g. She said, ‘I sweep the house on e.g. She said (that) she swept the house on Monday.
Monday.’
2.Present progressive Past progressive
e.g. She said, ‘I am sweeping the e.g. She said (that) she was sweeping the house.
house.’
3.Simple past Past perfect simple (/simple past when this past is close
e.g. She said, ‘I swept the house.’ to the present.)
e.g. She said (that) she had swept the house. [/ She said
(that) she swept the house.]
4.Past progressive Past perfect progressive
e.g. She said, ‘I was sweeping the e.g. She said (that) she had been sweeping the house.
house.’
5.Present perfect simple Past perfect simple
e.g. She said, ‘I have cleaned the e.g. She said (that) she had cleaned the house.
house.’
6.Present perfect progressive Past perfect progressive
e.g. She said, ‘I have been sweeping e.g. She said (that) she had been sweeping the house.
the house.’
7.Future simple Conditional
e.g. She said, ‘I will sweep the e.g. She said (that) she would sweep the house.
house.’
8.Future progressive Conditional progressive
e.g. She said, ‘I will be sweeping the She said (that) she would be sweeping the house.
house.’
9.Future perfect simple Conditional perfect
e.g. She said, ‘I will have swept the She said (that) she would have swept the house.
house.’
10.Future perfect progressive Conditional perfect progressive
e.g. She said, ‘I will have been She said (that) she would have been sweeping the house.
sweeping the house.’

39
Note:
a. It is not always necessary to change the verb when you use reported speech. If you report
something that is still true, you do not need to change the verb.
e.g. He informed us, ‘Congo is bigger than Rwanda.’
/ He informed us (that) Congo is bigger than Rwanda. (The situation hasn’t changed.)
b. Note that it is also correct to change the verb into the past.
e.g. He informed us that Congo was bigger than Rwanda.

3. REPORTED INSTRUCTIONS

e.g. ‘Stay in bed for a few days,’ the doctor told me. / The doctor told me to stay in bed for a few
days.
He ordered the children ‘Don’t shout.’ /He ordered the children not to shout.
Note: When we report instructions, the imperative in direct speech changes to infinitive in
reported speech.

4. REPORTED QUESTIONS

e.g. He asked me, ‘Is Jack married? / He asked me if Jack was married.
He wanted to know, ‘Who is your friend?’ / He wanted to know who my friend was.
Note: When we report questions
a. We use the word ‘if’ in reported yes/no questions.
b. We keep the question word (who/what/why/when/how/ which, etc.) in reported question-word
questions.
5. REPORTED SPEECH WITH EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES
Exclamatory sentences express a sudden outburst of some emotions such as sorrow, joy,
contempt, regret, surprise etc.
Hurrah! Ha! (express joy)
Alas! Oh! (express sorrow, regret or loss)
What! Oh! How! (express surprise, delight)
Pooh! (expresses contempt)
In indirect speech, the exclamatory phrase or word (interjection) is replaced by
exclaimed with joy, sorrow, regret, surprise, contempt, etc.

40
The connective “that” has to be supplied in indirect speech.
e.g: The boy said, “Hurrah! We have won the match.”
The boy exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
The old man said, “Alas! I have lost my money.”
The old man exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost his money.
“How glad I am to meet my friend!” said Alice.
Alice exclaimed with delight that she was glad to meet her friend.
He said, “How tall the building is!”
He exclaimed with surprise that the building was tall.
“Good morning” he said
He wished me a good morning.
“Happy new year!” he said.
He wished me a happy new year.
“Liar!” he said.
He called me a liar.
He said, “Congratulation!”
He congratulated me.
He said, “thank you!”
He thanked me.
He said, “Good luck!”
He wished me a good luck.
“Good,” he exclaimed
He gave me an exclamation of pleasure.

USE OF MODAL VERBS

Use modal verbs such as "should," "must," and "ought to" to give advice on environmental
practices, such as "We should recycle more" or "We must reduce our carbon footprint."
MUST
We use modals to show if we believe something is certain, possible or impossible:

My keys must be in the car.

It might rain tomorrow.
That can't be Peter's coat. It's too small.

41
We also use them to do things like talk about ability,

CAN

ask permission, and make requests and offers:

I can't swim.
May I ask a question?
Could I have some tea, please?
Would you like some help?
may, might and could
To expres possibility
We use may, might and could to say that something is possible, but not certain:

They may come by car. (= Maybe they will come by car.)

They might be at home. (= Maybe they are at home.)
If we don't hurry, we could be late. (= Maybe we will be late.)
We use can to make general statements about what is possible:

It can be very cold here in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold here in winter.)
You can easily get lost in this town. (= People often get lost in this town.)
Ability with can and cannot or can’t
We use can and can't to talk about someone's skill or general abilities:
She can speak several languages.
He can swim like a fish.
They can't dance very well.
We use can and can't to talk about the ability to do something at a specific time in the present
or future:

I can see you.

Help! I can't breathe.
We use could and couldn't to talk about the past and the impossible situation and after
perceptional verbs like hear,taste,see, etc…

She could speak several languages when she was 7.(talk about the past)
I couldn't see you.(talk about the past

42
I could lift up a house.(impossible situation)
I could hear you well.
Asking for permission
We use can to ask for permission to do something:

Can I ask a question, please?

Can we go home now?
could is more formal and polite than can:

Could I ask a question, please?

Could we go home now?
may is another more formal and polite way of asking for permission:

May I ask a question, please?

May we go home now?
Activity one:
Read the short paragraph below and indicate the modal verbs used and what they stand for:
Crime prevention must start from education. If people are not raised well, then they might
commit crimes in the future. It's the responsibility of both parents and schools to educate
children in the difference between right and wrong. This could be done in special ethics classes
in schools, and perhaps parenting classes might be a good idea for parents who are unsure of how
to raise children with more moral values. These classes shouldn't be compulsory though as this
might be too expensive and unnecessary. However, although all parents might not go, it could be
useful for those who are struggling. More information could help these parents.
Requests, offers and invitations
Requests
We use could you … and would you … as polite ways of telling or asking someone to do
something:

Could you take a message, please?

Would you carry this for me, please?
can and will are less polite:

Can you take a message, please?

Will you carry this for me, please?

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Offers and invitations
We use can I … to make offers:

Can I help you?

Can I do that for you?
We can also use shall I …:

Shall I help you with that?

Shall I call you on your mobile?
We sometimes say I can ... or I could ... or I'll (I will) ... to make an offer:

I can do that for you if you like.

I could give you a lift to the station.
I'll do that for you if you like.
I'll give you a lift to the station.
We use would you like (to) ... for invitations:

Would you like to come round tomorrow?

Would you like another drink?
Difference between request and offer or invitation

Requests

 Could you lend me 50 pounds?

 Would you help me with my homework?
 Can you shut that window?
 Will you be quiet, please?

Offers/Invitations

 Can I carry your bag for you?

 Shall I meet you at the airport?
 Would you like to go out tonight?
 Would you like a cup of tea?

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Suggestions
We use should and shouldn't to make suggestions and give advice:

You should send an email.

You shouldn’t go by train.
We also use could to make positive suggestions:

We could meet at the weekend.

You could eat out tonight.
Level: intermediate

We can use conditionals to give advice:

Dan will help you if you ask him.

Past tenses are more polite:

Dan would help you if you asked him.

Obligations
We use must or need to say that it is necessary to do something:

You must stop at a red light.

Everyone needs to bring something to eat.
You can wear what you like, but you must look neat and tidy.
We use mustn't for prohibitions – to say that it is necessary to not do something:

You mustn't make any noise in the library.

You mustn't say anything to her. It's a surprise.
We use had to (positive) and couldn't (negative) if we are talking about the past:

Everyone had to bring something to eat.

You couldn't make any noise in the library.
This is an activity of matching sentence with their meanings in colored here below ( You can
bring flash cards on which are written and you ask the students to match them accordingly)

Eliza must be in her office.

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 I'm sure.
She should be in her office.

... because she's normally there at this time.

She may be in her office.

I'm not sure but it's possible.

She might be in her office.

I'm not sure but it's possible.

She could be in her office.

I'm not sure but it's possible.

She can't be in her office.

 I'm sure. It's impossible.

USING MODAL VERBS WITH PERFECT INFINITIVES (PAST MODALS)
Form: How do we make the perfect infinitive?
SUBJECT MODAL HAVE PAST COMPLEMENT/
VERB PARTICIPLE OBJECT
I should have left early
She could stayed at home
My son must come By bus
the children would worked hard
we can’t lifted this box

MUST HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

Express an affirmative deduction, a logical conclusion about something that has happened. We
feel quite sure about it.
A certainty, the only possible explanation.
 He must have come by train. All the roads were closed.
 I didn’t hear her voice. She must have gone out.
 If you can’t find your car keys, you must have left them in the house.

46
  The program must have stripped the audio file of some frequencies. How else would it
have reduced its size?

CAN’T/COULDN’T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

The structure expresses a deduction about something that did not happen in the past based on
recent evidence (negative deduction/ impossibility in the past).An action in the past seems
practically impossible.
 She can’t/couldn’t have passed such a difficult exam.
 He can´t / couldn´t have moved the piano himself. He seems too weak.

 He can’t have said such a thing to you. He is such a decent person.

 You can't have lost your book. (I am sure you didn't)

 Sarah hasn't contacted me. She can't have got my message.

SHOULD HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

The structure expresses the idea that something was desirable, needed or expected but did not
take place (comment on past mistakes, regret, or unfulfilled duty, wishful thinking).
You should have done something= you didn't do it, but it would have been the right thing to
do:
 You should have worked hard at school.
 You should have locked the door before leaving the house. (But you didn’t lock it.)
 I should have called you yesterday but I forgot.
 You missed a very important lesson this morning. You should have come. Why didn’t
you? (= you didn’t come, but it would have been good to come.)

SHOULDN’T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE (SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE SOMETHING)

Something took place but wasn’t desirable.
 You shouldn’t have left without permission.
 I shouldn’t have yelled at you yesterday. I’m sorry.
 Alice shouldn’t have listened to our conversation. It was private (= she was listening).
 I'm feeling sick. I shouldn't have eaten so much. (= I ate too much)

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OUGHT TO HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
Ought to and should can be interchangeably used.
Ought to + have done expresses an unfulfilled duty or obligation. We use 'ought to do' (with
to):
 Paul ought to have waited until the lights were green before he crossed the street. (But
he did not wait)

 It was a great party last night. You ought to have come.

 We ought to have gone to see that film while it was still on at the local cinema.

 Every programmer ought to have been taught how to configure the system.

NEEDEN’T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

Indicates that something was done but wasn’t necessary. The person who did it thought it was
necessary (An unnecessary action, which was, nevertheless, performed).
 You needn’t have brought an umbrella; I have two of them.
 You needn´t have bought the flowers; we have plenty of them in the garden.

 They needn't have reserved a table. (They reserved a table, but this was not necessary.)

MAY/MIGHT HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE (May/might have done)

This structure expresses a possibility that something took place in the past.
 The little girl may have lost his keys. (It is possible that she lost his keys)
 Jane didn’t answer the phone. She may have been asleep.
 I was surprised Jane was not at the meeting yesterday. She might not have known about
it.
 Our neighbors might have heard some noise when or car was stolen.

COULD HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

We use could have + past participle to show that it was possible for something to happen, but it
didn’t (or a past opportunity was not taken).
 She could have called the doctor early in the morning (She did not call the doctor)
 I didn’t know you wanted to go to the movie. I could have bought a ticket for you.

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  Why did you go home in your holiday? You could have stayed on campus and read
books.
 David could have won the race if he had tried, (past possibility/ability)
 Why did you stay at a hotel when you were in Paris? You could have stayed with Sarah.
(you didn't stay with her)
 David was lucky. He could have hurt himself when he fell, but he's OK.
 She could have meant it that way. But who knows? (probability)
 Don’t worry about him. He could have been held up by traffic. (possibility)

MIGHT / MAY / COULD + PERFECT INFINITIVE

We use MAY, MIGHT, OR COULD + perfect infinitive to say that we think something was
possible, but we are not sure (Speculation about a past action)
 The thieves might have escaped by car. (We are not sure)
 He should be here by now. He may have been delayed by a traffic jam or something.
 I can’t find my purse. I could have left it in the supermarket.
 If Mary hadn’t been there, my son may/might/could have fallen down and hurt himself.
He was so lucky.

Might have done refers to past possibility which did not happen.
 You might have drowned!

Might have done is used to express annoyance at someone's failure to do something. There is
strong stress on the words underlined.
 You might have toldme my trousers were split!

WOULD HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

We use it when we imagine a situation/action in the past. The action was not performed because
of some reasons.
 I would have played football, but I had a strong pain in my leg.
 We didn’t tell Jane what happened. She would have been pleased.
 They helped us a lot. I didn’t know what we would have done without their help.
 She would have helped you, but she had other plans
 I would have told you sooner, but you were busy.

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Assumptions about the past are also possible with would have.
A: Someone called after you left but didn't leave a message.

B: That would have been Cathy, probably.

SUMMARY OF PAST MODALS
MODAL+ MEANING/CONCEPT EXAMPLE
PERFECT
INFINITIVE

Would have+ past Desire to do something, but I would have visited you, but I
participle impossibility to do it for forgot your address.
external
causes (Past unreal action)
Could have+ past Past unreal possibility/ ability You could have played better.
participle
May have+ past Past possibility/ probability Joe may / might have taken the
participle wrong train.
Might have+ past Past unreal small probability
participle
Must have+ past Deduction/ logical conclusion I did not hear her voice. She must
participle about a past action/event. We have gone out.
feel quite sure about it
Can’t/couldn’t Negative deduction This child can’t/couldn’t have
have+ past (impossibility) in the past moved the piano. It is very heavy.
participle
Should/ ought to Lament on something that You should have listened to the
have+ past should have teacher.
participle been done (Unfulfilled duty. You ought to have warned me
obligation) earlier.
Shouldn’t have+ Regret, Critique on something I shouldn’t have left the apartment.
past participle that shouldn’t He shouldn’t have told them.
have happened
Needent’t have+ Something that wasn’t You needn’t have bought an

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 past participle necessary to do. umbrella. I have one at home.

References
https://completeenglishgrammar.com/could-have-should-have-would-have/
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/modal-
verbs
https://www.eslbuzz.com/using-perfect-infinitives-with-modal-verbs/
https://www.eslprintables.com/grammar_worksheets/modal_verbs/
past_modals/Past_Modals_Explanation_and__239627/
https://www.espressoenglish.net/past-modals-should-have-could-have-
would-have/
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/
AdB_tQvGysouQTMNMocEy6pTrvZ2cEl8RrESudXH2zqnTO_wvGD8sQg/

2.2.1. Personal pronouns

Persons like I, you, etc. are called personal pronouns, because they refer to grammatical
person: 1st person I, we 2nd person: you 3rd personhe, she, it, one, they.
Note: in English, we distinguish 2 forms of personal pronouns namelysubjectand object forms.

Forms subject object

Singular First person I Me
Second person You You
Third person He, she, it Him, her, it
Plural First person We Us
Second person you You
Third person they Them

As illustrated in the above table, personal pronouns subject are used in the place of a subject
whereas personal pronouns object are used in the place an object.
Use of subject and object pronouns
 Object pronouns are often used after be: e.g. who is it? – it is me/him/her/us/them.

 We do not use I, she, etc. on their own in answer to questions with who? In every day
speech, we use object pronouns: e.g. who told him? –me/ not I. Or we say: I did/ I didn’t.

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  After as and than, we use object pronouns: e.g. he is taller than me/ as tall as me. Or we
use subject verb: he’s taller than I am /as tall as I am.

Use of it
 If it is normally used of a thin or an animal whose sex we don’t know, and sometimes of
a baby or a small child:

e.g. – Where is my map? If I left it on the table.

- look at the bird. It always comes to my window.
- Her new baby is tiny. It only weights 2kilos.
It can be used of people in sentences such us:
- Ann (on phone): who is that/ who is it?

- Bill: it’ me

- Is that Tom over there? No it is Peter

It is used in expressions of time, distance, weather, temperature, tide:

- What time is it? – it is six

- What’s the date? It’s the third of May

- How far is it to York? It is 400 kilometers.

- How long does it take to get there? –It depends on how you go.

- It is raining.

- It’s full moon tonight. In winter it’s/it is dark at six o’clock.

- It is high tide/ low tide.

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2.2.2.Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are words that are used to show someone or something.
In English, we distinguish two types of demonstrative pronouns depending on position of
someone or something compared to the speaker.
Demonstrative pronoun
Distance Near Far

Number
Singular This That

Plural These Those

Examples: This was my mother’s ring. / Thisis very yummy!

That looks like the car I used to drive. / Could you hand me that?
These are nice shoes, but they look uncomfortable. / These are the most comfortable.
Those look like riper than the apples on my tree. / Those belong to Sarah.

2.2.3 Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are words that are used when asking questions.
For persons: - Subject:who (pronoun)
E.g Who pays the bill?
Whoare these boys?
-Object:whom, who (pronoun)
E.g. (Very formal English) whom did the committee appoint?
(Normal English) who did you see?
- Possessive:whose(pronoun and adjective)

E.g .whose car broke down? (Whose as subject)

Whose umbrella did you borrow? (Whose as object and the verb)
Whose are these?
Note: In the two first examples, whose is used as an adjective whereas in the two last example.
Whose is used as a pronoun.
For a person or things when the choice is restricted:
Which (pronoun and adjective)
Which pronoun is used alone as the subject of the pronoun
E.g. which of you knows the formula?
Which adjective can be used of people when there is only a very slight idea of restriction?
E.g : Which poet ( of all poets)do you like best?

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2.2.4. Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns are words that are used to refer to the possessor, not to the thing possessed.

Number Personal Possessive Possessive

pronouns adjectives pronouns
Singular 1st person I My Mine
2nd person You Your Yours
3rd person He/ she/it His/ her/ its His/ hers
Plural 1st person We Our Ours
2nd person You Yours Yours
3rd person They Their Theirs

Examples:

The kids are yours and mine.

The house is theirs and its paint is flaking.
We shall finally have what is rightfully ours.
Their mother gets along well with yours.
Here are our books. Where are yours?
I left my bag here and he left his.
We got our fruits. What about theirs?
They got their meals. What about ours?
Can I borrow your pen? I lost mine.
Why are you using my phone? Where is yours?
I can’t find my bag. Can I take hers?

2.2.5. Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are words that are used when the subject and the object are the same.
E.g. Cut While he was shaving (Not Tom cut him)

Cut

Tom Himself
The reflexive pronouns are the following;
Person First person Second person Third person

number
Singular Myself yourself Himself /herself/itself
Plural Ourselves yourselves themselves

 I don’t want you to pay for me. I will pay for myself.

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  The old lady sat in a corner talking to herself.

 If you want more to eat, help yourselves.

 Don’t get angry. Control yourselves.

Note:
 Reflexive pronoun can also be used for emphasizing a pronoun or a noun.

E.g. The king himself gave her the medal

Ann herself opened the door.
I did it myself.
 There aren’t many verbs in English which must always be used with reflexive pronouns:

Absent oneself, avail oneself (of), and pride oneself (on).

E.g. Monica absented herself from work.
Jim prides himself on his cooking.
 We often use reflexive pronouns with these verbs: amuse, blame, cut, dry, enjoy,

hurt and introduce.

E.g. don’t blame yourself.
I enjoyed myself at the party.
 We sometimes add reflexive pronoun with these verbs after verbs like dress, hide, shave
and wash. For emphasis or to show that something has been than with an effort.

E.g. Polly has now learnt how to dress herself.

 Verbs like get up, sit down, stand up, wake up and get wet, get tired, get dressed, get
married are normally reflexive in English.

E.g. I sat down with difficulty.

We might use a reflexive only for emphasis:
E.g. I sat myself down with difficulty.

2.2.6. Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are words that are used to refer to someone or something without being
specific.
Indefinite pronouns are the following: someone, somebody, something, anyone, anybody,
anything, no one, nobody, and nothing.
Compound with some, any and no follow the above rule.
E.g. – someone/somebody wants to speak to you on the phone.
-No one/nobody has ever given me a free tick for anything.
- Do you need anything from the teacher?
- Would anyone/anybody like a drink?

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Note also:
I drink anything= I don’t mind want I drink.
Anyone will tell you where the house is.

2.2.7. Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns are words that are used to introduce relative clause. A relative clause tells us
which person or thing (or what kind of person or thing) the speaker means.
E.g. The man who lives next door is very friendly.
The underlined word is a relative pronoun. The word that are in bold together, they make a
relative clause .in English, the following words are referred to as relative pronouns: who, whom,
whose, which, that, where, when
Who and whom are used for person only. Who is used in the place of subject whereas whom is
used in the place of an object.
E.g. The man lives the next door. He is friendly.
The man who lives next door is friendly. (in this sentences, whom refer to the noun phrase
which is the man)that is a subject.
- I talked to Mary. She is a nurse

- The lady whom I talked to is a nurse. (In this sentence, whom refers to the noun Mary
which is an object in this sentence.)

Whose is used for both persons and objects to show possessor.

E.g John is a member of parliament. His daughter is a Harvard graduate.
John whose daughter is a Harvard graduate is a member of parliament.
Which is used for object only.
E.g. I hired a car. It broke down.
The car which I hired broke down.
That can be used for both person or object.
E.g. It is the manager that we want.
The car that I hired broken down
Note: When, where, and why are used as a relative adverbs.
When is used to talk about time, where is used to talk about place and why is used to give a
reason.
E.g. The hotel where we stayed wasn’t very clean.
The year when he was born is not known.
John is sick the reason why he didn’t attend class yesterday.
3. Personal pronouns, possessive and reflexive pronouns
Personal Personal Possessive Possessive Reflexive
pronouns pronouns adjectives pronouns pronouns
subjects objects
I Me Me Mine Myself
You You You Yours Yourself

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 He His His His Himself
She Her Her Her Herself
It Its Its - Itself
We Us Our Ours Ourselves
They Them Their Theirs Themselves

Active versus passive forms

The process
Subject + verb + object active

Subject + be + past participle + by + agent

We buy the fruit from market. (active voice)
 The fruits are brought from the market by us. (passive)

Remark: we drop the agent when it does not give any information to the sentence.
E.g: someone killed the dog. (active)
The dog was killed (by someone) (passive)
TENSES WITH THE PASSIVE VOICE
I. PRESENT
1. The simple present
e.g: He eats rice every day. (A.V)
 Rice is eaten by him every day. (PV)
He sells peas in hall.
 Peas are sold by him in the hall.
2. Present continuous
He is writing a letter.

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 A letter is being written by him.
They are watching TV.
 TV is being watched by them.
3. Present perfect
He has done exercises
 Exercises have been done
We have informed them.
 They have been informed.
4. Present perfect continuous
We have been studying English.
 English has been being studied by us.
They have been eating maize for ten minutes.
 Maize has been being eaten by them for ten minutes.
II. PAST TENSES
5. The simple past
I invited them
 They were invited by me
They played football
 Football was played by them
Remark: When there are two objects, we begin by the person when we are making
passive voice.
E.g : John gave the boy a wonderful cow
 The boy was given a wonderful cow by John
They gave him much money
 He was given much money by them
6. The past continuous
He was taking notes
 Notes were being taken by him.
They were washing clothes.
 Clothes were being washed.
7. The past perfect
They had taken children to hospital.

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  Children had been taken to hospital by them.
We had paid money.
 Money had been paid by us.
8. The past perfect continuous
He had been thinking about me for ten minutes.
 I had been being thought about ten for ten minutes.
III. FUTURE
9. The simple future
We will help our parents on holiday.
 Our parents will be helped by us on holiday.
They will build another house.
 Another house will be built by them.
10. The future perfect
We shall have finished a test before a week.
 A test will have been finished by us before a week.
They will have created two playgrounds
 Two playgrounds will have been created by them.
11. The future continuous
We will be doing a quiz tomorrow at eight.
 A quiz will be being done by us tomorrow at eight.
12. The future perfect continuous
 Next year, English will have been being taught by Kamali for ten years.
 Next year, Kamali will have been teaching English for ten years.

MODAL AUXILIARIES IN PASSIVE SENTENCES

You must clean the class
 The class must be cleaned by you
You have to look for him
 He has to be looked for by you.
I must write to him
 He must be written to by me.

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 Activity

PASSIVE VOICE WITH QUESTIONS

Who eats rice?
 By whom is rice eaten?
Who taught you English?
 By whom were you taught English?
What do you want?
 What is wanted by you?
Do you read the book?
 Is the book read by you?
Did he abuse you?
 Were you abused by him?
Who can save our country?
 By whom can our country be saved?
Who made this?
 By whom was this made?
Who is calling me?
 By whom am I being called?
Who is knocking at the door?
 By whom the door is being knocked?
Which car was he driving when the accident happened?
 Which car was being driven when the accident happened?
Whose hat did someone leave at your house?
 Whose hat was left at your house?

Remark: if the question word who is used at the beginning of the sentence; then the question
word who changes into whom taking a preposition by then we change the rest part of the
sentence but the other question words do not work like this.
Activity

PASSIVE VOICE WITH IMPERATIVE SENTENCE

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Sentences which express request, order, advice, suggestion, prohibition, etc are called
imperative sentences. The imperative sentence in the passive voice has the following structure:
Let+object+be+past participle
When the active voice begins with do not, the passive voice has the following structure:
Let+object+not+be+past participle
Eg: Throw the ball
 Let the ball be thrown
 Do it once
 Let it be done at once
 Do not beat the dog
 Let the dog not be beaten
 Do not touch it
 Let it not be touched

N.B: you can begin the sentence with you if you want to put emphasis on the person addressed
to.
Eg: please help me
 Let me be helped or
 You are requested to help me

The passive form has to begin with you when the object of the verb in the active voice is not
given.
EXAMPLES
Work hard
 You are advised to work hard
Get out
 You are ordered to get out
Kindly do this work
 You are requested to do this work
Let us go for a walk
 It is suggested that we should go for a walk

Note that suggest is followed by a hat clause and not an infinitive

IMPERSONAL PASSIVE

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 The following examples give another case in which two passive sentences may be formed from
one active sentence.
1. It + passive reporting verb + that-clause

In this pattern the generalized agent + active reporting verb is replaced with it + passive
reporting verb.
Eg everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine
 It is known that my grandfather likes red wine.
2. Subject + passive reporting verb + to-infinitive

In this pattern we start with the subject of reporting clause, which is followed by the verb and the
to-infinitive form of the verb in reported clause
E.g: Everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine
 My grandfather is known to like red wine
The company is losing a lot of money
 The company is said to be losing a lot of money

Simple to write
Continuous to be writing
Perfect to have written
Perfect continuous to have been writing

N.B: there are four INFINITIVE FORMS which we will use depending upon the tense we have
in the active sentence
WHICH FORM OF THE INFINITIVE DO WE USE?
 If it carries an idea of present or future
Simple: to write
 If it carries an idea of the past, whatever tense (past simple, past perfect, present perfect)
Perfect: to have written
 If either of them are in a continuous form, you use the adequate infinitive continuous
form

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 To be writing or to have been writing
Examples;
They say she works hard
 She is said to work hard
The company will make loss this year
 The company is expected to make loss this year
They said she has done well
 She was said to have done well
The company is losing a lot of money
 The company is said to be losing a lot of money
They believed he has been having an affair
 He is believed to have been having an affair
She believes the repairs have been finished
 The repairs are believed to have been finished

Some verbs have special passive forms

 Make and help

They are followed by a bare infinitive in the active but take a to-infinitive
Her two sisters made him clean the house
 He was made to clean the house by her two sisters
 Let

In the passive, let is replaced by allowed and is followed by a to-infinitive

The teacher let us leave early
 We were allowed to leave early (by the teacher)
 See and hear

Some verbs of the senses can be followed by either to-infinitive or gerund form in the passive
They heard the baby cry/crying
 The baby was heard to cry/crying

Examples of reporting verbs used in passive voice

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Allege (assert), assume, believe, claim, consider, declare, discover, estimate, expect, feel, find,
intend, know, observe, presume (believe), prove, report, reveal, say, see, show, suppose, think,
understand.
Auxiliary verbs
Introductory activity one
Open this link and prepare the presentation of 8 students
https://youtu.be/HHt52kFa2ow
The definition of auxiliary verbs is verbs which form the tense, mood and voice of other verbs.
They are also known as 'helping verbs'. There are also primary auxiliary verbs. 'Be'and 'have'are
the primary auxiliaries. A primary auxiliary is used to construct compound tenses.

A simple definition of a verb is a word that is used to describe an action or occurrence.

The 3 most common auxiliary verbs are: 'be', 'have', and 'do'. Examples of each of these auxiliary
verbs include:

 To Be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been, will be.

 To Have: has, have, had, having, will have.

 To Do: does, do, did, will do.

The use of them

1) 'Be' auxiliary verbs

'Be' can be an auxiliary verb or the main verb in a sentence.

In the examples below, the 'be' auxiliary verbs are in bold.

Used in a progressive sentence:

1. I am going to school.

2. She is playing basketball.

3. They have been learning about verbs.

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Used in a passive sentence:
1. I was going to school.

2. She was playing basketball.

3. This lesson on verbs has been interesting.

2) 'Have' auxiliary verbs

'Have' is used to create the 'present perfect tense' and is always followed by the past participle.

'Has' is used to make it third-person singular.

'Had' is used to make a sentence past tense. It explains an action that started in the past but is still
ongoing into the present, known as 'past perfect tense.'

Used in a perfect sentence:

1. I have been walking to school.

2. We have learnt a lot today.

3. They had been the best students

Do' auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs can be used to make questions and negative statements.

'Do' and 'does' are frequently used to make questions and negatives.

'Did' is used to replace 'do' and 'does' to make a sentence past tense.

Examples of statements:
1. I do my schoolwork.

2. You do your schoolwork.

3. We do our schoolwork.

4. They do their schoolwork.

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 5. He/she does their schoolwork.

Examples of questions:
1. Do I want one?

2. Do you want one?

3. Do we want one?

4. Do they want one?

5. Does he/she want one?

Auxiliary verbs express Mood.

The mood of a verb tells us how it is to be regarded (e.g., as a fact, a command, a wish).
1. Do eat the cake, Sally.
2.Did you win?
(Here, the auxiliary verb to do is used to form the interrogative mood, i.e., to
ask a question.)
3. Don't forget your wallet.
(Here, the auxiliary verb to do (in its negative form) is used to form the
imperative mood, i.e., to give an order.)

It uses with Voice.

The voice of a verb tells us whether the subject is acting or being acted upon.
e.g: The cake was eaten by Sally.
Activity
Read the script and correct the mistakes. Then share with your group members and
check your answers.
‘My favourite book is called the Hunger Games. It was wrote by Suzanne Collins I think and it
is a really good book. The story is set in North America, but at a time when things are very bad.
It’s a story of a terrible society, which separated into districts. A boy and girl from each district
send to take part in the Hunger Games. These games are televise for everyone to see. The
games are base on a fight to the death for the children taking part. The story follows a girl
called Katniss, who forced to take part in the games when she offers herself up instead of her
sister. I like the story so much because it is very exciting. At first, I found it really horrifying,

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but the more I read it, the more I couldn't put the book down. I really came to like the main
character too. She is so strong. I was recommend this book by some friends and Iwasn’t
disappoint.’

ADVERBS
Adverbs of degree
Adverbs of degree tell us about the intensity or degree of an action, an adjective or another
adverb.
Common Adverbs of degree:
Almost, nearly, quite, just, too, enough, hardly, scarcely, completely, very, extremely.
Adverbs of degree are usually placed:
1. Before the adjective or adverb they are modifying:

e.g: the water was extremely cold.

2. Before the main verb:

e.g he was just leaving. She has almost finished.

Examples:
 She doesn’t quite know what she’ll do after university.

 They are completely exhausted from the trip.

 I am too tired to go out tonight.

 He hardly noticed what she was saying.

Enough, very, too

Enough as an adverb meaning ‘to the necessary degree’ goes after adjectives and adverbs.
Examples:
 Is your coffee hot enough? (adjective)

 He didn’t work hard enough. (adverb)

It is also goes before nouns, and means ‘as much as is necessary’. In this case it is not an adverb,
but a ‘determiner’.
Example:

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  We have enough bread.

 They don’t have enough food.

Too as an adverb meaning ‘more than is necessary or usuful’ goes before adjectives and adverbs,
e.g:
 This coffee is too hot. (adjective)

He works too hard. (Adverb)

Enough and too with adjectives can be followed by ‘for someone/ something.’
Example:
 The dress was big enough for me.

 She’s not experienced enough for this job.

 The coffee was too hot for me.

 The dress was too small for her.

We can also use ‘to +infinitive’ after enough and too with adjectives/ adverb.
Example:
 The coffee was too hot to drink.

 He didn’t work enough to pass the exam.

 She’s not old enough to get married.

 You’re too youngto have grandchildren!

Very goes before an adverb or adjective to make it stronger.

Example:
 The girl was very beautiful. (adjective)

 He worked very quickly. (adverb)

If we want to make a negative form of an adjective or adverb, we can use a word of opposite
meaning, or not very.
Example:

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  The girl was ugly OR the girl was not very beautiful.

 He worked slowly OR he didn’t work very quickly.

Be careful! There is a big difference between too and very.

 Very expresses a fact.

He speaks very quickly

 Too suggests there is a problem:

He speaks too quickly (for me to understand).

Other adverbs like very

These common adverbs are used like very and not very, and are listed in order of strength, from
positive to negative:
Extremely, especially, particularly, pretty, rather, quite, fairly, rather, not especially, not
particularly.
Note: rather can be positive or negative, depending on the adjective or adverb that follows:
Positive: The teacher was rather nice.
Negative: The firm was rather disappointing.

Note on inversion with negative adverbs:

Normally the subject goes before the verb:
Subject Verb
I Left
She Goes

However, some negative adverbs can cause an inversion—the order is reversed and the verb
goes before the subject
Example:
I have never seen such courage.
Never have I seen such courage.
She rarely left the house.
Rarely did she leave the house.

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Negative inversion is used in writing, not in speaking. Other adverbs and adverbial expressions
that can be used like this:
Seldom, scarcely, hardly, not only…
But also, no sooner…
Than, not until, under no circumstances.
Adverbs of place
Adverbs of place tell us where something happens.
They are usually placed after the main verb or after the object:
Example:
After the main verb:
 I looked everywhere

 John looked away, up, down, around…

 I’m going home, out, back

 Come in

After the object:

 They built a house nearby

 She took the child outside

‘Here’ and ‘there’

With verbs of movement, here means towards or with the speaker:
 Come here (=towards me)

 It’s in here (=come with me to see it)

There means away from, or not with the speaker:

 Put it there (=away from me)

 It’s in there (=go by yourself to see it)

Here and there are combined with prepositions to make many common adverbial phrases:
Down here, down there;
Over here, over there;
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Under here, under there;
Up here, up there.
Here and there are placed at the beginning of the sentence in exclamations or when emphasis is
needed.
They are followed by the verb if the subject is a noun:
 Here comes the bus.(followed by the verb)

Or by a pronoun if this is the subject (it, she, he, etc.):

 Here it is! (followed by the pronoun)

 There she goes! (followed by the pronoun)

Note: most common adverbs of place also function as prepositions.

Examples:
About, across, along, around, behind, by, down, in, off, on, over, round, through, under,
up.

Go to prepositions or phrasal verbs

Other adverbs of place: ending in ‘wards’, expressing movement in a particular direction:
Backwards
Forwards
Downwards
Inwards
Outwards
Northwards
Southwards
Eastwards
Upwards
Westwards
Homewards
Onwards

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Example:
 Cats don’t usually walk backwards.

 The ship sailed westwards.

BE CAREFUL! ‘Towards’ is a preposition, not an adverb, so it is always followed by a noun or a

pronoun:
 He walked towards the car.

 She ran towards me.

Expressing both movement and location:

Ahead, abroad, overseas, uphill, downhill, sideways, indoors, outdoors.
Example:
 The child went indoors.

 He lived and worked abroad.

d. Adverb of time (question – when)

An adverb of time tells us when something is done or happens. We use it at the beginning or at the end
of a sentence. We use it as a form of emphasis when we place it at the beginning. Adverbs of time
include afterwards, already, always, immediately, last (month), now, soon, then, and yesterday.

Examples:

o He collapsed and died yesterday.

o His factory was burned down a few months ago.
o Last week, we were stuck in the lift for an hour.

e. Adverb of manner ( question: how)

An adverb of manner tells us how something is done or happens. Most adverbs of manner end in –ly
such as badly, happily, sadly, slowly, quickly, and others that include well, hard, fast..

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Examples:

 The brothers were badly injured in the fight.

 They had to act fast to save the others floating in the water.
 At the advanced age of 88, she still sang very well.
 Habimana revised her note carefully.
 Leonard is speaking loudly.

Functional & situational language

Students will be introduced to situational language in English, and they will learn appropriate
functional expressions with different degree of formality.

These include:
 Self-introduction
 Agreeing, disagreeing
 Inviting, accepting, and refusing invitations
 Asking for assistance
 Expressing a degree of formality
 Expressing gratitude/ thankfulness
 Expressing possibility/ Probability/ certainty
 Expressing necessity
 Expressing prohibition
 Making and replying to requests and offers
 Giving advice and instructions
 Booking hotel rooms and flights
 Making phone calls
 Ordering in restaurants
 Talking about the weather and climate
Language structure:
 Modal verbs: Use modal verbs such as "can," "could," and "may" to ask for permission,
make requests, or offer help, such as "Can I borrow your phone?" or "Could you help me
with this?"
 Idioms & collocations
 Use of different expressions in English like similar to, good at…

PRICES AND NUMBERS

£5.99 = “Five pounds and ninety-nine pence” (long way)

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£5.99 = “Five, ninety-nine” (short way)

$12.75 = “Twelve dollars and seventy-five cents” (long way)

$12.75 = “Twelve seventy-five” (short way)

€3.20 = “Three euros and twenty cents” (long way)

€3.20 = “Three twenty” (short way)

6. MAKING COMPARISONS
[…]

ENGLISH FOR TRAVELLING

At the Airport - Interactive Practice

A: "Welcome. May I have your tickets?"

B: "Here you go."
A: "Is anybody else traveling with you two?"
B: "No. It's just us."
A: "Do you have your passports with you?"
B: "Yes. Here it is."
A: "I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Please respond with a yes or a no."
B: "Ok."
A: "Did someone you do not know ask you to take something on the plane with you?"
B: "No."
A: "Did you have possession of your luggage since you packed?"
B: "Yes."
A: "Did you leave your luggage unattended at all in the airport?"
B: "No."
A: "Are you carrying any weapons or firearms?"
B: "No."
A: "Are you carrying any flammable material?"
B: "No."
A: "Do you have any perishable food items?"
B: "No."
A: "Great. Can you place your baggage over here?"
B: "Sure."
A: "Would you like an aisle or a window seat?"
B: "Window seat please."
A: "Ok. I am placing you two in 21A and 21B. The gate number is C2. It is on the bottom of the ticket.
They will start boarding 20 minutes before the departure time. C2 is located around the corner through
the hall. Thank you."
B: "Can you point me to gate C2?"

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A: "Sure. It's that way. Around that corner."
B: "Great. Thank you."

11. At the restaurant

DINING OUT
- Hi, I’m Lori, I’ll be your waitress today. Can I get you anything to drink?
- Just water.
- Would you like bottled or regular?
- Regular.
- And for you?
- I’ll have a diet soda.
- Great. I’ll be right back.
ORDERING
- Have you decided what you’d like or do you need some more time?
- I’ll have the grilled chicken and a dinner salad.
- And what kind of dressing would you like?
- What kind do you have?
- Italian, blue cheese, and French.
- I’ll have the Italian, and can you serve that on the side?
- The Peppered Salmon, is that very spicy?
- Yes.
- I don’t like spicy, I’ll have the steak.
- And how would you like that cooked?
- Medium, please.
- Alright, so that’s chicken with salad, Italian dressing on the side, and one steak, medium.
- Yes.
- Thank you.

- SERVING
- Be careful, it’s hot!
- Can I get that for you?
- Yes, please.
- And is there anything else I can get you?
- May I have a steak knife?
- Of course. I’ll get that right away.
- How is everything?
- Excellent!
- Very good!
- Great!

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FINISHING THE MEAL
- Are you still working on that or shall I wrap it up for you?
- I’m done.
- I’ll take this to go.
- Would you like a dessert menu?
- Yes, please.
- Would you like coffee?
- Yes.
- I’ll have some too.
- Cream or sugar?
- I’d like some cream.
- I’ll have sugar.
ORDERING DESSERT
- Have you decided what you’d like for dessert?
- I’ll have the chocolate cake/ I’ll have the cheesecake.
- Excellent, I’ll be right back.
GET THE CHECK
- Did you enjoy your meal?
- It was wonderful!
- Can I get you anything else, or should I get your check?
- We’ll take the check.
- Thank you for coming.
ORDERING FOOD
Kitty is going to have lunch in a restaurant. Read the following dialogue carefully to see how
Kitty orders her food.
Waiter: hello, can I help you?
Kitty: I’d like to have lunch.
Waiter: would you like to have a starter?
Kitty: yes, I would like to have a bowl of soup, please.
Waiter: And what do you like to have for main course?
Kitty: I would like to have cheese burger.
Waiter: Would you like anything to drink?
Kitty: I would like to have a glass of coke.
Waiter: (After Kitty having the lunch), Can I bring you anything else?
Kitty: No, thank you. But I would like to have the bill, please.
Waiter: certainly
(after a moment)
Waiter: That’s $34
Kitty: Here you are. Thank you very much.

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Waiter: You are welcome. Have a nice day
Kitty: Thank you, same to you.
12. How to give instructions

 How to make a cup of coffee?

 How to search for a topic on Google?
 How to make a call on your cell phone?

There are two parts to giving instructions:

 Sequencers
 and then the actions.

Sequencers help you order your instruction (It is like the 1, 2, 3, 4 of your actions.)

The most common are

First(ly)...; Then...; Next...; After that..., Finally...

E.g. How to make a sandwich

First, you must roast a chicken and slice it into thick pieces. Then toast your favourite bread (two
slices). After thatyou need to put mayonnaise and mustard on the toast and then the chicken slices.
Next you are going to add your vegetables, tomatoes, lettuce onions, cucumbers etc. Finally, put a
couple slices of cheese on the sandwich and thenclose it with the other piece of toast.

You can also:

1) Tell people what is necessary

2) what is wrong
3) what is not necessary

 You (don't) need to...

 You have to...
 You must/mustn't...
 You should/shouldn't...

E.g.
How to make a cup of coffee

First you need to buy some coffee and a coffee maker. Then you have to put the water into the bottom
of the coffee maker. You needn't boil the water (you don't need to boil the water), cold water is fine.
Next you have to put the coffee in the coffee compartment and screw the top of coffee maker on. After
that you need to put the coffee pot onto the stove. Then turn the stove on light and wait. You don't
have to move the coffee pot. When the water boils and goes into the upper part of the pot you

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then have to remove the pot from the heat. Finally, you pour some coffee into a cup, add sugar and
milk and enjoy.

IDIOMS AND COLLOCATIONS

Idioms

Idioms are phrases and expressions used in any language that have implicit or non-literal meaning i.e.
when taken from word to word meaning cannot be interpreted literally. They rather need a person to
have a knowledge on what they want to mean. They are said to mirror the culture of the language

Common English idioms

Idioms Meaning Example

All thumbs Clumsy, or not very good at When it comes to sewing, I’m
doing something all thumbs.
Apple of My Eye Someone who is cherished That girl is an apple of my
above all others eye
Be in the same boat Be in the same bad situation With us both sick, we are in
as someone else the same boat
Break a leg Have good luck Right before I walked out on
stage, my mother told me to
break a leg.
Butterflies in my stomach A nervous, fluttery feeling in I always get butterflies in my
the stomach stomach before a big game.

Cock and Bull Story An unbelievable tale. That is a cock and bull story

Cool as a cucumber Calm, not nervous I am feeling cool as a

cucumber
Cost an arm and a leg Be extremely expensive This car’s new version costs
an arm and a leg!
Cup Of Joe A cup of coffee Let us go out for a cut of Joe

Cut to the Chase Leave out all the unnecessary Allow me to cut to the chase
details and just get to the about this issue.
point.

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 Elvis has left the building Come to the end or the We can now head back home,
conclusion Elvis has left the building
Get Down to Brass Tacks To become serious about We have a great deal of work
something to do, let us get down to
brass tacks
Get Your Walking Papers Get fired from a job After misbehaving at work,
he got his walking papers
Hit the books Study for a test or an exam We’re having a CAT in next
two weeks, so I’m going to
hit the books these days.
Hold your horses Stop or wait “Please, hold your horses!”
said Mom as I tried to drink
the tea on the table. “They are
still too hot to drink.’’
In the Bag To have something secured, In the yesterday’s match, the
achieved success coach was dancing of joy
thinking the trophy was in
the bag till he was defeated.
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie To avoid restarting a conflict Sometimes, it is better to
move on and let sleeping
dogs lie
Mum's the word To be silent, keep quiet, say I need this to be a surprise.’
nothing and do not reveal. Don’t worry, ‘Mum’s the
word’
Piece of cake Not difficult, not Please don’t stress out that is
complicated, Very easy a piece of cake.
Spill the beans Tell or reveal a secret Don’t spill the beans to
Drake about his birthday
party surprise!
Taste Of Your Own When you are mistreated the Get the taste of your own
Medicine same way you mistreat medicine
others.
Tongue-tied Shy, unable to think of I’m usually tongue-tied when
something to say I meet people for the first
time
Wade through Work on a difficult or lengthy The lecturer gave us an
task assignment it took me four
hours to wade through it all!

Collocations

Adjective + preposition

Here are some other useful adjectives with prepositions

Using at

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We use at with adjectives like good/bad/amazing/brilliant/terrible, etc. to talk about skills and abilities.

He's really good at English.

She's amazing at the piano.
They're terrible at organising anything.
I'm not very good at drawing.

Using about
We often use about with adjectives of feelings like angry/excited/happy/nervous/sad/stressed/worried,
etc. to explain what is causing that feeling.
I'm angry about the decision.
He's nervous about the presentation.
She's excited about the new job.
They were worried about the exam.

Using by
I was amazed by your deeds
They are impressed by his appearance
She was inspired by her godmother

Using of
However, sometimes we use of with feelings.
She was afraid of telling her mum.
I'm frightened of having an accident.
He's scared of flying.
You should be proud of your progress.
Using on
I am keen on passing the national exams

Usingto
We can use to to show the connection between people or things.
He's married to the director.
I'm addicted to my phone.
I'm allergic to nuts.
It's similar to the old one.

We can also use to to talk about someone's behaviour towards someone else.
They were really friendly to me.
Was he nice to you?
He is always polite to everyone.
She was very rude to the waitress.

Using for

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Exercise is good for you.
Stress too much is bad for your health.
The town is famous for its cheese.
I'm responsible for the financial side of the business.

Using from

Your taste is different from mine.

He was exempted from his duty last week.

Using in
She's interested in the project.
They want someone who's experienced in design.
I didn't want to get involved in the argument.

Using with
He is obsessed with his new girlfriend
I am fed up with your behavior
He is very kind with children

ADJECTIVES

1. What is an adjective?

Adjectives are words that describe or modify other words, making your writing and speaking much
more specific, and a whole lot more interesting. Words like small, blue, and sharp are descriptive, and
they are all examples of adjectives. Because adjectives are used to identify or quantify individual
people and unique things, they are usually positioned before the noun or pronoun that they modify.
Some sentences contain multiple adjectives.

Adjective Examples

In the following examples, the highlighted words are adjectives:

1. They live in a big, beautiful house

2. Since it’s a hot day, Lisa is wearing a sleeveless dress
3. The mountaintops are covered in sparkling
4. On her birthday, Brenda received an antique vase filled with fragrant flowers.

2. Types of Adjectives

Remember that adjectives can modify as well as describe other words, and you’ll find it much easier to
identify different types of adjectives when you see them.

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 a) Possessive Adjectives

As the name indicates, possessive adjectives are used to indicate possession. They are: My, Your, His/
Her/ Its, Our, and Their

b) Demonstrative Adjectives

Like the article the, demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate or demonstrate specific people,
animals, or things. These, those, this and that are demonstrative adjectives.

 These books belong to the UR.

 This fruit is my favorite one.
 Please put those cookies on the blue plate.

c) Numbers Adjectives or quantitative adjectives: describe the quantity of something.

When they’re used in sentences, numbers are almost always adjectives. You can tell that a number is an
adjective when it answers the question “How many?/ how much ”

 The stagecoach was pulled by a team of six

 He ate 23 hotdogs during the contest, and was sick afterwards.
 “How many children do you have?” “I only have one daughter.”
 “Do you plan on having more kids?” “Oh yes, I want many children!”
 “I can’t believe I ate that whole cake!”

d) Interrogative Adjectives (also called interrogative determiners)

The interrogative adjectives are what, which, and whose.

 What – Used to ask questions about people or objects. Examples:

o What time will you give the patient another drug?
o What colour is this book.
 Which – Used to ask questions about people or objects. Examples:
o Which way are going?
o Which seat would you like now?
 Whose – Used to ask questions about people or objects, always related to possession. Examples:
o Whose parents are those?
o I wonder whose dog knocked our garbage can over.
o Whose phone is that?

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 e) Indefinite Adjectives

Like the articles a and an, indefinite adjectives are used to discuss non-specific things. You might
recognize them, since they’re formed from indefinite pronouns. The most common indefinite adjectives
are any, many, no, several, and few.

 Do we have any peanut butter?

 Grandfather has been retired for many years.
 There are no bananas in the fruit bowl.
 I usually read the first few pages of a book before I buy it.
 We looked at several cars before deciding on the best one for our family.
 Some people are not kind in our village.

f) Attributive Adjectives ( also called descriptive adjectives)

Attributive adjectives talk about specific traits, qualities, or features – in other words, they are used to
discuss attributes. There are different kinds of attributive adjectives:

 Observation adjectives such as real, perfect, best, interesting, beautiful or cheapest can
indicate value or talk about subjective measures.
 Size and shape adjectives talk about measurable, objective qualities including specific physical
properties. Some examples include small, large, square, round, poor, wealthy, slow and
 Age adjectives denote specific ages in numbers, as well as general ages. Examples are old,
young, new, five-year-old, modern, traditional, old- fashioned, ancient, etc.
 Colour adjectives are exactly what they sound like – they’re adjectives that indicate colour.
Examples include pink, yellow, blue, white, black, green, red, orange, etc.
 Origin adjectives indicate the source of the noun, whether it’s a person, place, animal or thing.
Examples include American, Canadian, Mexican, French, Rwandan, Congolese, etc.
 Material adjectives denote what something is made of. Some examples include cotton, gold,
wool, and
 Qualifier adjectives are often regarded as part of a noun. They make nouns more specific;
examples include log cabin, luxury car, and pillow cover.

3. ORDER OF ADJECTIVES

When more than one adjective comes before a noun, the adjectives are normally in a particular order.
The most usual sequence of adjectives is:
1. Quantity or number: one, two, three, many
2. Opinion (what you think): unusual, lovely, beautiful
3. Size: big, small, tall
4. Shape: round, square, rectangular
5. Age: young, old, youthful, new, ancient, modern

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 6. Colour: blue, red, pink, green
7. Origin/nationality: Dutch, Japanese, Turkish, Chinese, Rwandan
8. Material: metal, wood, plastic, silk, gold, silver, woollen
9. Purpose: cleaning, hammering, cooking

Examples:
- She was wearing an amazing red coat.
- It was made of a strange green metallic material.
- It’s a long narrow plastic brush.
- I love that really big old green antique car that always parked at the end of the street.
- My sister adopted a beautiful big white bulldog.
When there are two or more adjectives that are from the same group, the word and is placed between
the two adjectives:
- The house is green and red.
- It was a blue and green cotton shirt.
- The library has old and new books.
When there are three or more adjectives from the same adjective group, place a comma between each
of the coordinate adjectives:
- We live in the big green, white and red house at the end of the street.
- My friend lost a red, black and white watch.
Note that a comma is not placed between an adjective and the noun.
When more than one adjectives occur after a verb such as be (a linking verb), the second adjective is
normally connected to the last adjective by and:
Home was always a warm welcoming place. Now it is sad, dark and cold.
And is less common when more than one adjectives come before the noun (e.g. a warm welcoming
place).
4. Comparatives and Superlatives

A – adjectives – usage + basic rules

ADJECTIVES COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
USAGE When you compare two When you compare three
things/ people. or more things/ people. To
say that one person or thing
in a group is unique.

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 SHORT one syllable or Adjective + + The + Adjective + –est
–er
two syllables ending in (than)
“y” * –ier –iest
Two syllables or more More Most
LON

Less + Adjective + The + + Adjective

/
G

(than)

Examples:

Number of syllables ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

cheap cheaper than the cheapest

one syllable *
old older than the oldest

two syllables ending Happy happier than the happiest

in “y” * Easy easier than the easiest
expensive more expensive than the most expensive
two syllables or more
modern less modern than the least modern

Example sentences:

COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

 New York is larger than Boston.  New York is the largest city in the U.S.
 Chicago is colder than Miami.  Chicago is the coldest city I know.
 Bob is taller than John.  Bob is the tallest person in my family.
 A Mercedes is more expensive than a  The Rolls Royce is the most expensive
Volkswagen. car.

B – Spelling rules
1) One-syllable adjectives simply add “er” or “est”
2) C + V + C ending double the last consonant and add “er” or “est”

(Or ending in a short vowel followed by a single consonant)

Ex: hot = hoTTer (than), (the) hoTTest

big = biGGer (than), (the) biggest

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 3) “e” ending just add “r” or “st”

Ex: nice = nice R (than), (the) nice ST

wide = wide R (than), (the) widest

4) a) C + Y ending drop the “y” and add “ier” or “iest”

Ex: lucky = luckIER (than), (the) luckIEST

healthy = healthIER (than), (the) healthIEST

b) V + Y ending just add “er” or “est”

Ex: coy* = coyER (than), (the) coyEST

gray = grayER (than), (the) grayest

C – Irregular adjectives
IRREGULAR COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
ADJECTIVES
good, well better than the best
Bad worse than the worst
Little less than the least
much/many more than the most
Far farther / further than the farthest / furthest
Old elder / older than the eldest / the oldest
Example sentences:
COMPARATIVES SUPERLATIVES

- Steak is better than fish. - The steak I had last night was the best I’ve
ever had.
- This book is worse than that book. - The book I read last month was the worst
I’ve ever read.

Comparatives of Equality (Equatives)

As ... as
We use as ... as to say that two people, things, etc are the same in some way.

as + adjective + as
Judy is as tall as Martin.
I’m as old as you are.

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 Was the exam as difficult as you’d expected?
After not, we can use as ... as or so ... as.
not as/so + adjective + as
Judy isn’tas/so tall as Carla.
Today isn’tas/so cold as yesterday.
NOTE: In an informal style we use object pronouns like me, him after as. Example, You aren’t as
tired as me. In a more formal style we use a subject pronoun like I, he + verb. Example, You
aren’t as tired as I am. Some people think that the subject form + verb is more ‘correct’.

DOUBLE COMPARATIVES
Indicating the gradual changes
It is …….adj+er and adj+er/ ……..more+adj and more+adj
Examples:
The situation is getting harder and harder
The environment has become more and more beautiful
Due to having the facilitators, this course program is getting easier and easier
The+adj+er………, the+adj+er……../The more+adj….,the more+adj…
Examples:
The older she gets, the wiser she became.
The more money you get, the easier your life is.
Activity
Complete these sentences with the correct form of the adjectives in parentheses.
1. The less he works, (happy) he is.
2. The bigger the car, (fast) you can go.
3. (fresh) it is, (good) it will taste.
4. (more) you eat, (fat) you will get.
5. (less) you spend, (more) you save.
6. It was becoming (cold) and (cold).
7. I was getting more and (excited).
8. The weather was bad and getting (bad) and (bad).
COMPARISONS SUMMARY

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 COMPARISONS OF ADJECTIVES
ADJECTIVES EQUATIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATI
VE
One – syllable taller than
as tall as the tallest
adjectives (nor as tall as)
SHORT

Two – syllable
noisier than
adjectives as noisy as the noisiest
(not as noisy as)
ending in “y”
the most
Two – syllable
more / less famous than famous
adjectives not as famous as
(not as famous as) the least
ending in “y”
famous
the most
LONG

adjectives with more / less artistic than artistic

as artistic as
3 or more syllables (not as artistic as) the least
artistic
better than
worse than
the best
as good as farther / further than
Irregular form of the worst
as bad as
adjectives the farthest
as far as (not as good as)
the furthest
(not as bad as)
(not as far as)

NOTE 1: The following adjectives can use either form (-er / -est or more / the most):
able, angry, clever, cruel, friendly, gently, narrow, polite, obscure, secure, simple, stupid, shy
Example:
friendlier than The friendliest
as friendly as
more friendly than The most friendly

NOTE 2: The comparative form of fun is “more fun than”

NOTE 3: More is used alone or with nouns. Of is required before pronouns or nouns preceded by a
determiner.
 Yes, we’ve got (beer) __________. Would you like some?

 There are (things to do here)________there.

 She talks (rubbish) __________her sister.

 There’s (wine) ______________left in the cellar.

 I’d like to have (this honeydew melon) ____________.

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NOTE 4: As for the usage of in and of, in is generally found before words referring to places (and
some others, such as in the family, in the team); and of, before plurals and a few other words or
phrases, like the longest day of the year. Other prepositions are sometimes required:
She’s the most dangerous criminal on earth.
NOTE 5: She’s bought as many artichokes as you.
She’s got as much butter as you.
Note that if we have a noun we use: as many + a plural noun + as, or as much +an uncountable
noun+ as. In the negative, so can replace the first as:
She hasn’t bought so many artichokes as you.
She hasn’t got so much butter as you.
The noun is sometimes dropped to avoid repetition:
I want as many (sweets) as the others. as much as can also act as an adverb:
He doesn’t like beer as much as I do.
My father earns a lot of money, but I earn twice as mush (as he does).

II. Review of punctuation and capitalization

A. Punctuation

1. Period
a) At the end of declarative and imperative sentences:
Declarative (a statement): The book is on the desk.
Imperative (a command): Go to the grocery store and buy milk.
b) In abbreviations:
Ed Wilson, Ph.D. will be lecturing about insects.
Ms. Audrey Aimes is an award-winning photographer.
c) As elements of ellipses, which indicate omitted words:
Just before he lost consciousness, the victim whispered, “Help me . . .”
d) Inside quotation marks:
The determined scientist thought to himself, “I must find a solution.”
2. Quotation Marks
a) Around the exact words of a speaker:
The teacher said, “We will have an exam next Tuesday.”
b) Around titles of songs, short articles or essays, stories, poems:
Nancy quoted from the article “Lost Heroes” in her research paper.
c) When using quotation marks within a quotation, use single quotation marks:
Tony asked Nancy, “Can I read ‘Lost heroes’ when you are finished using it?”

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3. Question Mark
a) At the end of a direct question, but not when the sentence is not a direct question:
Do you know the way to San Jose?
David asked me if I knew the way to San Jose?
b) Within parentheses:
Aristotle died in A.D. 600 (?).
c) With quotation marks:
Inside the quotation marks only when the question mark is part of the quoted text:
I asked, “May I borrow a pencil?”
Outside the quotation marks when the question mark is not part of the quoted text:
Do you know the meaning of the word “juxtaposition”?
4. Semicolon
a) In place of a comma and a conjunction to join independent clauses:
I’m not hungry; he wants to eat a big lunch.
b) Before a conjunctive adverb (like however or therefore):
I want to transfer to UCLA or USC; therefore, I need to get good grades at LBCC.
c) Between items in a list when the list items have commas:
Three movies I have seen recently are Jaws, about a killer shark off the coast of New England; K-19,
about a Russian submarine; and Pod People, about a little boy who makes friends with an alien.
5. Colon
a) Before a series or list that follows a complete sentence (do not use a colon in the middle of
a sentence):
To lose weight, you should do the following: exercise regularly, eat healthy foods, and
drink less alcohol.
b) When introducing a quotation after a complete sentence:
Remember the words of the great Yogi Berra: “It ain’t over until it’s over.”
c) In a salutation of a formal letter:
To Whom It May Concern: (Salutations in less formal letters tend to have commas.)
d) Between hours and minutes and between minutes and seconds of time:
The space shuttle lifted off at exactly 11:40:29 this morning.
e) Before an appositive, explanation, or example that follows a complete sentence:
In the history of major league baseball, two teams have played in Seattle: the Pilots

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 (1969 only) and the Mariners (1977-present).

f) Between main clauses when the first signals that the second will provide an answer or
definition:
Faith is like love: It cannot be forced.
g) In proportions:
The ratio of students to teachers was 30:2.
6. Dash (two hyphens together)
a) Around a sudden break in thought:
In 1991, the Minnesota Twins—what a season Jack Morris had that year! —won the World Series in
seven games. (When the interrupting thought ends the sentence, the second dash is replaced by end
punctuation, such as a period.)
b) To introduce a summary or explanation:
The Cincinnati Reds won the 1990 National League pennant by going “wire-to-wire”—they were in
first place for the entire season.
c) To indicate a hesitation or other awkwardness in speech:
After losing the game, one of the players stammered, “I just—I just cannot believe it.
We tried so hard.”
d) To set of information that deserves emphasis:
Johnny ate the whole jar of peanut butter—the whole jar!
7. Comma
a) Between main clauses with a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so):
The movie was terrible, and the audience was making fun of it.
b) Between individual items in a series or list:
Remember to buy milk, butter, eggs, bread, and juice.
c) After names in a direct address:
Joe, will you please pass the butter?

d) After introductory expressions:

Unfortunately, I only had a 2.5 GPA last semester.
e) Around appositives (a word or phrase that renames or defines a preceding noun):
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 Barry Bonds, the best home run hitter in baseball, is left-handed.
f) After an introductory dependent clause:
After she had worked at the company for six years, she decided she hated her job.
g) Before such as when it is followed by an example or a list:
Read a good book, such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
h) Around a thrown-in interrupting expression (However, I think, After all, etc.):
Bill Clinton is, in my opinion, a terrible role model.
i) Around non-limiting (non-restrictive, non-essential) clauses, phrases, or information:
Mulberries, which happen to be my least favourite Betty, are expensive this year.
j) With quotations:
Sigmund Freud asked, “What do women want?”
k) Between elements in locations, dates, or addresses:
My father was born on December 31, 1953, in the morning. (Do not use commas if the
date is inverted—17 March 204—or if it does not include the day.)
l) After introductory verbals or verbal phrases:
Sleeping soundly, Linda did not wake up when the earthquake hit.
m) Before and after an element that contrasts with a previous element:
Now that I have a good job, I get paid a better salary, not minimum wage.
8. Hyphen
a) In the middle of compound words:
My great-grandmother’s name was Mary.
Two-year-olds often get into trouble.
b) Between two words functioning as a single adjective before a noun:
Ross Perot was not a well-known political figure before 1992.
The game-show contestant missed a terribly obvious question.
c) In the middle of compound numbers and fractions:
He claims that he caught twenty-four trout while fishing in one day.
One-third of my pay check goes to pay for my rent.
d) With some prefixes and suffixes:
Larry King has several ex-wives.
The president-elect must wait almost three months to be sworn in.

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 Maria is a self-motivated woman.
Many cultures believe in an all-knowing deity.
9. Apostrophe
a) In possessives, between the end of the word and s when the word does not end in s; but
after the s in words ending in s:
That is Andy’s jar of pickles.
That is the Taylors’ house.
b) In contractions, to signify where letters have been omitted:
The bad guys in movies sometimes aren’t very smart. (The o in not has been left out.)
c) Before the s in plurals of letters, numbers, and words.
Dr. Yenser gave six A’s, three B’s, nine C’s, and two D’s in his literature class.

10. Italics
a) For foreign words not accepted in common usage in English:
The citizens staged a coup d’état and overthrew the dictator.
b) For emphasis:
After Lisa got home, her mother said, “I said not to take the car!”
c) For titles of larger works (books, magazines, movies, albums/CDs)
Have you ever read The Great Gatsby?
The Beatles released their album Rubber Soul on December 3, 1965.
d) For words that are mentioned rather than used in normal speech or writing:
The word egg comes from the Danish language.

B. Capitalization

1. For proper nouns and adjectives derived from them:

Many people from Vietnamese descent live in Los Angeles.
2. For generic names with a proper noun:
The college is located on Carson Street.
3. For the first word in a sentence:
Did you leave the oven on when you left the house?
4. For the pronoun I:
Even if I wanted to, I could not ski.
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5. For the title of a relative when the relative is named:
That blonde woman is Aunt Delia.
6. For titles that precede a proper name (but not when a name is not given):
That man in the blue suit is President Barack Obama.
My doctor is Doctor Moore.
My friend is a professor of English.
7. For words in titles (except coordinating conjunctions, articles, and prepositions):
Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite movies.
8. For races and ethnic groups:
My friend Laurie married a Nigerian last year.
9. For historical, religious, or political groups:
Many Catholics tend to consider themselves Republicans.
10. For points on the compass:
The hurricane travelled NW toward the Florida coast.
11. For specific course titles:
I took Renaissance Literature last semester.
12. For seasons only if they refer to semesters or issues of magazines:
Jim plans to enrol at Yale in the Fall 2005 semester.
13. For formal systems, organized departments, etc.:
Most personal computers have Windows installed on them.
The English Department has some great instructors.
14. For the first word of a complete sentence in parentheses:
She was nearly hit in the head. (Of course, she never knew.)
15. For names and abbreviations of associations, clubs, and organizations:
The Kiwanis Club meets once a month.
16. For sacred names:
The Bible is a very important book for Christians.
17. For directions when they are used as specific geographic places:
Have you ever visited the Northeast?
I have only been to New York City and Boston.

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PARAGRAPH WRITING
Characteristics of a good paragraph
 Unity and Completeness
 Coherence and Cohesion

UNITY
 When a paragraph has unity, all the supporting sentences relate to the topic sentence.
 All sentences within the paragraph relate to the main point—only one main idea is discussed.
 All supporting sentences must also directly explain or prove the main idea that is stated in the
topic sentence.

Practice
Look at the following paragraph.
We had a terrible storm last night. The wind blew up to fifty miles an hour, and it rained very hard.
Eucalyptus trees by the river blew over, and one three hit a power line and blacked out the area for five
hours. Downtown, the main street was flooded, and cars were left stranded in bumper-deep water.
Before morning, the river flooded its banks, and people living nearby were forced to flee their homes
with whatever belongings they could gather. It was the worst storm in the country since 1958.
The paragraph is unified because
1. All the sentences relate to the main point of the paragraph.
2. The main point of the paragraph is that storm was terrible.
3. The rest of the sentences relates to the main point by showing how bad the storm: It knocked down
the trees, flooded main street, caused blackout, and forced people from their homes.
Next, look at the following paragraph. Read each of supporting sentences carefully.
A National Treasure
The Smithsonian Institute, located in Washington, D.C., was established in 1846 for two reasons. The
first was to do fundamental research and then publish the findings of this research. This research is used
by historians and scientists all over the world. The second reason was to preserve the history and
culture of United States. The Smithsonian Institute established a museum to do this. The original
building still stands today and is called the Smithsonian Museum. Since that first museum, many more
have been built to house artifacts from various areas of U.S. society and history. Some of the most
famous of these museums are the National Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the

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National Museum of Natural History. The president of the United States also lives in Washington, D.C.
These two functions of the Smithsonian Institute continue to be very important to the American people
The paragraph above is not unified because
1. The a paragraph above is about the Smithsonian Institute
2. The president of the United States is not about the Smithsonian Institute
3. A sentence that does not belong in a paragraph is called an irrelevant sentence.

COMPLETENESS
 Your paragraph is complete when it has all major supporting sentences it needs to fully explain
the topic sentence and all minor supporting sentences it needs to explain each major supporting
sentence.
 A paragraph that is not complete does not have enough sentences to follow through on what the
topic sentence promises.

Read the following paragraph and pay particular attention to the topic sentence.
Thomas Alva Edison is famous for his many useful inventions. The most useful certainly has to be the
electric light bulb. Before this invention, people had to light their homes after dark with candles or gas
lighting. Both of these could be dangerous. Another one of Edison’ inventions was the motion picture
projector. This invention was the beginning of the movie business, which employs millions of people
and entertains millions more. In short, Edison contributed a lot of the world through his
inventions.
The topic sentence says that Thomas Edison created many inventions, but only two are discussed.
The word many means at least three, so in order for this paragraph to be complete, we would need to
talk about at least one more invention.
Read the following paragraph.
Melisa has chosen five possible future careers. Firstly, she wants to become a journalist for an English
magazine. Her friends at campus plan to do much more challenging jobs, anyway. Secondly, she might
become a dress designer. Finally, she could possibly be a tourist guide.
The paragraph is both irrelevant and incomplete because

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1. This paragraph does not fully explain what it must explain.
2. If the topic sentence states that Melisa has five choices, the paragraph has to inform the readers about
five choices.
3. The third sentence “Her friends at campus plan to do much more challenging jobs, anyway,” is
irrelevant; it does not add useful information to develop the topic sentence.
COHERENCE
1. A coherent paragraph is made up of sentences that are ordered according to a principle.

2. The principle changes depending on the type of paragraph that you are writing.

3. The three types of ordering are chronological ordering, spatial ordering, and logical ordering.

a. Chronological ordering is usually used for a narrative paragraph. The events of a story must be
ordered according to time.

b. Spatial ordering is used for a descriptive paragraph. The descriptive paragraphs have sentences
that are ordered according to space. For example, this could be top of bottom, head to foot, left
to right, or front of back.

c. Logical ordering is used for expository paragraphs. They are written based on logic or reason.

COHESION
 When a paragraph has cohesion, all the supporting sentences “stick together” in their support of
the topic sentence.

Some types of cohesion techniques

1. The use of pronouns
a. Personal Pronoun
Examples
 When Yuko moved from Japan to the U.S., she found that people were friendlier than she had
anticipated.
 English is considered an international language. It is spoken by more than 300 million people all
over the word.
 The little boy looked at the birthday cake. He stuck out his finger and took a taste of it.

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b. Demonstrative Pronouns
Another way to connect sentences in a paragraph, or to give a paragraph goodcohesion, is to use
demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, and those. Demonstrative pronouns require antecedents in
order to help connect sentences to those that came before.
e.g.: On top of the table was a present. This present had purple wrapping paper.
2. Use of transitional words and phrases
 Transitional words and phrases help the readers move from one sentence, paragraph, or idea to
another.
 Transitions (sometimes called connectors) also help to establish the relationships between parts
of the sentences and paragraphs in an essay.

Sentence connectors
 Many transitions can go at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence, but no
matter where they are, they are set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Examples:
 For example, Memorial Day honors soldiers who died in wars.

OR
 Memorial Day, for example, honors soldiers who died in wars.

OR
 Memorial Day honors soldiers who died in wars, for example.

The most common subordinators

Meaning Subordinators

Chronology after ;before ;while ;when ;until

Causation because
since

Unexpected result although

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 even though

Difference whereas
while

Condition If
unless

Coordinating Conjunctions
 Coordinating conjunctions are words that establish a relationship between two independent
clauses.
 They are used to form compound sentences.
 There are seven coordinating conjunctions, and you can easily remember them by remembering
the word FANBOYS.

Conjunction Purpose

F for Shows a reason (the second clause gives a reason for

the first)

A and Shows addition

N nor Shows a negative alternative (It’s the negative form of

or, and it must follow a clause containing a negative
word such as not. When we usenor we must use
question word order after it.

B but Shows contrast

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 O or Shows an alternative or choice

Y yet Shows an unexpected contrast (It’s similar in meaning

to although)

S so Shows a result (The first clause results the second)

When these words are used to connect independent clauses, they are preceded by a comma.
Examples
 He was sad, for he had lost his favorite pen.
 The pen was expensive, and it was comfortable to use.
 He could not find the pen in his bag, nor could he find it at home.
 Someone offered to lend him a pen, but he did not want it.
 Perhaps he did not like that pen, or the ink was the wrong color.
 A new pen would be expensive, but he did not care.
 He wanted a new pen, so he bought it.

Note:
 The part of the sentence that comes after the coordinating conjunction is an independent clause
with a subject and a verb.
 If it doesn’t have a subject and verb, do not use a comma

Example
 Annie got up late and forgot to call her mother on Mother’s Day.

Note
 Although you may see coordinating conjunctions begin a sentence after a period, it is not
considered good academic style to use them in that position.
 Using a transition with the same meaning is preferable.

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Examples
Nonacademic style
 We were going to the movie. But, we didn’t know what time it started.

Academic style
 We were going to the movie. However, we didn’t know what time it started.

Conditionals
First, second and third conditional
There are three main types of conditional sentences.
First conditional (or Type 1 conditional)
If I [see]Andrew at the meeting, [I'll give]him your message.
present simple future simple
To talk about something that is quite likely to happen in the future. It is very possible that I will see
Andrew at the meeting, in which case I'll give him your message. The condition is quite likely to be
fulfilled.
Second conditional (or Type 2 conditional)
If my parents [were] alive, they [would be] very proud of me now.
past simple would + infinitive
To talk about a present situation which is impossible: a hypothetical situation. The condition cannot be
fulfilled because my parents are not alive.
If she [changed] her job, she[ would be]much happier. [she'd]
To talk about a future event that is unlikely to happen.
The speaker does not expect her to change her job.
That is, it is unlikely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Third conditional (or Type 3 conditional)
If she [had worked ]harder, she [would have passed]the exams.
past perfect would + perfect infinitive
To talk about something in the past that did not happen. She didn't work harder and she didn't pass her
exams. It is an unfulfilled condition in the past.
Notes:
• In conditional sentences, the conditional clause can be the first or second clause in the sentence,
although it is more often the first clause.
When the conditional clause comes first, it is followed by a comma. When it comes second, there
is no comma.
If I get home early enough, I'll make a special dinner.
I'll make a special dinner if I get home early enough.
• The tense and verb forms given here are the ones most commonly used in conditional sentences.
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GERUNDS IN ENGLISH

A Gerund is the form of a verb when it acts as a noun; a gerund (often known as an -ing word) is a
noun formed from a verb by adding –ing. For example:
 Studying is good for you.

Formation: Base form +ing

Gerunds can act as the subject of a main verb. For example:
 Goingto parties is fun.

 Hunting elephants is dangerous.

 Flying makes me nervous.

Here, gerunds are subjects.

Gerunds can act as the object of a main verb. For example:
 I enjoy reading.

Here, gerund is object

Use
Certain words like adjectives, prepositions, verbs, nouns are followed by an -ing form.
Adjective+ preposition combinations followed by gerunds
The following is only a sample list of the most commonly used adjective+ preposition combinations
that can be followed by gerunds.
Accustomed to He is accustomed to having his own office
Used to He is used to smoking
Addicted to She is addicted to watching TV
Afraid of She is afraid of speaking in public
Anxious about Norma is anxious about making the presentation.
Bored of I am bored of doing the same old job
Capable of She is capable of improving her English
Concerned about Nancy was concerned about being late.

Content with Tim is content with winning second place.

Dedicated to The organization is dedicated to ending poverty.

Devoted to The money will be devoted to protecting the environment.

Disappointed with Fiona was disappointed with coming in third place.

Discouraged by He was discouraged by not getting the job.

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 Excited about The researcher was excited about going to Africa.

Famous for That actor is famous for being extremely weird.

Fond of She is fond of having picnics.

Frightened of She is frightened of being alone at night.

Guilty of The banker was guilty of stealing money.

Happy about He was happy about winning the lottery.

Interested in She is interested in becoming a doctor.

Involved in He was involved in making the movie

Known for She was known for causing problems.

Opposed to They are opposed to building a new road in the park

Proud of He was proud of having completed the marathon.

Remembered for She is remembered for protecting mountain gorillas.

Responsible for He is responsible for causing the damage.

Scared of Tina is scared of being alone at night.

Terrified of The surfer is terrified of being attacked by a shark.

Tired from She is tired from working all day.

Worried about The hikers were worried about not having enough water.

We use the gerund after prepositions: Noun+ preposition

We use the gerund after the following nouns:
advantage of What is advantage of farming over hunting?
chance of There’s a chance of catching a cold these days.
chance of There’s a choice between flying to London Heathrow or Stansted.
danger of Peggy is in danger of making a mistake.
difficulty in He has difficulty in sending SMS.
doubt about He is in doubt about buying the correct software for his computer
system.
hope of There’s little hope of catching Schumacher’s Ferrari.
idea of I like the idea of setting up a new email account.

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 interest in There’s no interest in writing letters.
method of There is a simple method of finding solutions.
opportunity of There’s some opportunity of bringing her parents together again.
possibility of These new wheels offer the possibility of riding tubeless.
problem of He has the problem of swimming too slow.
reason for There’s a real reason for winning the contest.
risk of There’s a risk of digging too deep.
trouble for He was in trouble for stealing.
way of This is a new way of building a new wall.

Gerund after preposition: Verb+ preposition.

Exception: to
Here we use the phrase: Looking forward to+ gerund
Example: I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.

accused of They were accused of breaking into a shop.

agree with I agree with playing darts.
apologize for They apologize for being late.
believe in She doesn’t believe in getting lost in the wood.
blame for The reporter is blamed for writing bad stories.
complain about She complains about bullying.
concentrate on Do you concentrate on reading or writing?
congratulate sb. On I wanted to congratulate you on making such a good speech.
cope with He is not sure how to cope with getting older.
Decide against They decided against stealing the car.
depend on Success may depend on becoming more patient.
dream of/about Sue dreams of being a pop star.
feel like They feel like going to bed.
get used to You must get used to working long hours.
insist on The girls insisted on going out with Mark.
look forward to I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.
prevent sb. from doing sth. How can I prevent Kate from working in this shop?
rely on He doesn’t rely on winning in the casino.
succeed in How then can I succeed in learning chemistry?
specialize in The firm specialized in designing websites.
Stop sb. From I stopped Andrew from smoking.
talk about They often talk about travelling to new Zealand.
thinks of Frank thinks of playing chess.
Warn somebody. against We warned them against using this computer.
Worry about The patient worries about having the check-up.

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Gerund after some phrases.
To be busy He is busy reading the paper.
couldn’t help She couldn’t help eating another apple.
don’t mind I don’t mind telling them my opinion.
feel like We feel like having a cup of tea.
How about How about walking home instead of taking the car?
It’s (no) good It’s no good talking to this girl.
It’s no use It’s no use talking to the headmaster.
spend one’s time They spend their time reading.
There’s no There’s no cheating anymore.
There’s no point There’s no point in complaining further.
What about What about going to the zoo?
Worth The book is worth reading.

Gerund after some verbs

Admit He admitted having driven too fast.
Avoid They avoid going on holiday on Saturdays.

carry on If we carry on sleeping so badly, we may need help.

Consider Ralph is considering buying a new house.
Delay I delayed telling Max the news.
Deny She denies reading the book.
Dislike We dislike reading poems.
Can’t help He couldn’t help falling in love with her.
Enjoy I enjoy playing chess.
Finish They finished working in the garden.
give up Susan gives up playing ice-hockey.
Imagine He imagined driving a new car.
Include Your responsibility includes taking reservations on the phone.
Involve The project will involve growing plants.
Justify I cannot justify paying $100 for this ticket.
keep (on) They keep on running.
Mention Did Alex ever mention playing baseball?
Mind I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.
Miss They miss playing with their friends.
Practice She practiced playing hockey.
Regret Do you regret having mentioned it?
Risk You risk catching a cold.
Suggest She suggested flying to Cairo.
There are many “go+ gerund” expressions used for adventure, sports and individual recreational
activities.

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Go+ Gerund list
Go bowling Go sailing
go bowling Go scuba diving
Go bungee jumping Go shopping
Go camping Go sightseeing
Go canoeing Go skateboarding
Go climbing Go skating
Go dancing Go skiing
Go fishing Go skinny-dipping
Go hiking Go skydiving
Go horseback riding Go sledding
Go hunting Go snorkelling
Go jogging Go snowboarding
Go kayaking Go spearfishing
Go mountain climbing Go surfing
Go paragliding Go trekking
Go parasailing Go water skiing
Go rollerblading Go window shopping
Go running Go windsurfing

Verbs Followed by gerunds or Infinitives (Similar Meaning)

Can’t bear: He can’t bear being alone.
He can’t bear to be alone.
Can’t stand: Nancy can’t stand working late.
Nancy can’t stand to work alone.

Note:1) Gerunds and infinitives (to) after a verb bring a difference

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in meaning.
Gerund infinitive
I remember doing something (=I I remember to do something (=I
did it and I remember this). remember that I had to do
ex.: -I remember borrowing a book something, so I did it; it was my
from the duty).
library. ex.: -I remember to borrow the
book; but I forgot
to give it back.
I regret doing something (=I did it -Please remember to give
and now I am sorry about it). back the book (don’t forget to
Ex.: -I now regret saying what I give it back).
said. It was foolish. I regret to do say/tell/inform (I
-It began to rain; and I am sorry that I have to
regretted not bringing say/tell/inform).
my umbrella. Ex.: We regret to tell you that we
Go on doing something=continue cannot offer you the job.
with the same thing.
Ex.: The Mayor paused for a Go on to do something=do/say
moment and went on talking. something new Ex.: After
discussing the economy, the
Mayor went on to talk about
health issues.
Therefore, remember/ forget +infinitive are used to refer to a
responsibility, duty, or task.
Ex.: Susan always remembers to lock the door.
Sam often forgets to lock to the door.
Remember/forget + gerunds means remember/forget something that
happened in the past.
Ex.: I remember seeing the volcanoes/volcanoes; I was 11.
I will never forget seeing the volcanoes for the first time.
2) Like to do/like doing
Ex.: I like doing something= I do it and I enjoy it (I like playing the
guitar).
I like to do something=I think it is a good thing to do, but I don’t
necessarily enjoy it (I like to clean
the kitchen as often as possible, though it is not my favourite job.
3) Go+ gerunds to express recreational activities
go canoeing go mountaineering go window/shopping go
dancing go fishing

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 go boating go hunting go jogging go
running go sailing
go shopping go swimming go skiing go
sightseeing
4) Some expressions followed by gerunds
These expressions are it’s no use, it’s no good, there is no point in, it’s
(not) worth
Ex.: -There is nothing you can do about the situation, so it’s no use
worrying about it.
-It’s no use trying to persuade me, I will never accept her invitation.
-There is no point in having a car if you never use it.
-I live only a short walk from here, so it’s not worth taking a taxi.
-What was the film like? Was it worth seeing?

5) Gerunds follow expressions like “have difficulty, have trouble, a

waste of time, and a waste of money”
Ex.: -I had no difficulty finding a place where to live.
-People often have difficulty reading my writing.
-The Smiths had no trouble finding a place to live.
-It was a waste of time reading that book.
-It’s a waste of time buying things you don’t need.

1. INFINITIVES

There are two forms of infinitive: infinitive with “to” (to speak/ to go/ to tell) and infinitive without
“to” (speak/go/tell), infinitive that loses ‘to” depending on the verbs it follows.
a) Infinitive with to

 Verbs followed by infinitive as object

Agree, appear, arrange, ask, need, neglect, offer, plan, plan, prepare, (can’t) wait,
attempt, beg, care, cease, pretend, promise, refuse, want
claim, choose, demand, remain, seem, swear, tend, wish, would like, yearn
decide, deserve, determine, threaten, wait, want, (can’t) ( desire)
expect, fail, happen, hesitate, afford, aim, omit, ought,
hope, intend, learn, manage,

Examples:
 The robber managed to open the door without a key.
 The Doctor has refused to discharge my patient because he is still having signs of vomiting.

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  She claimsnot to have been sexually active for the past 12 months. Her home pregnancy test is
negative.

 Verbs +object + infinitive with ‘to’

Examples:
 advise  inform  urge
 allow  instruct  *want
 authorize  invite  *warn
 cause  order  *would like
 challenge  permit  *ask
 convince  persuade  *expect
 encourage  remind  *need
 force  require  *promise
 get  teach  *prepare
 help  tell
 hire  train

Examples:
 If your cholesterol profile is undesirable, your doctor will first prescribe a combination of
healthful eating, increased physical activity, and weight loss to try to improve it. He or she
will also encourage you to keep your blood sugar under control, which may help you lower
your LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides.
 Allow the patient time to chew and swallow the food before presenting the next mouthful.
Adjust the size of the mouthful to suit the patient.
 The manager has asked Lillian to make a list of the drugs required to restock the medicine
chest.

Note: Verbs with an asterisk (*) can be followed by an object or not.

Examples:
 My father wants me to take medicine, but I myself want to study mechanical engineering.
 My father expects me to become a Doctor.
 I expect to study in the USA for my masters program.

 After let/ make + object

Examples:
 Let us read the instructions regarding the use of this drug.
 Stop making the patient talk too much. He hasn’t regained enough energy yet.

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  Gerund or Infinitive: In some cases, using either gerund or infinitive is possible.

Verbs followed by either Infinitive or Gerund:

There are verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with little or no change in meaning:

Begin, can’t bear, can’t stand, continue, hate,

like, love, prefer, propose, start
remember, regret, try, cease

Examples:
• Continue adding the flour. ⇐⇒ Continue to add the flour.
• I prefer using apricots. ⇐⇒ I prefer to use apricots.
• I hate making cakes. ⇐⇒ I hate to make cakes.

Remark: Two -ing forms do not usually follow each other:

• I was starting to make a cake when the phone rang.
• not: I was starting making a cake. . .

Small Difference in Meaning: like, love

Like + to infinitive has a slightly different meaning from like + -ing:

• I like to catch the early bus on Mondays. = this is a good plan or it’s a habit, but not necessarily
something I enjoy.

• I like dancing. = I enjoy it

Remark: Like, prefer, hate and love can be followed by the to infinitive or -ing,
but would like, would prefer, would hate and would love are always followed by the ‘to’ infinitive.

e.g. She would like to go out, but we would prefer to stay in.

Some other verbs are followed by a gerund or infinitive with a change in meaning:
Examples:
 Forget  Dread
 Regret  Need
 Remember  Start
 Stop  Mean
 Try  Go on
 Keep  Can’t help
 Begin

Compare: Verb + to infinitive AND Verb + -ing

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Remember to check whether the cake is ready. = an action which will be necessary

I remember checking that I had my keys when I left the house. = a memory of a past action
Don’t forget to add the baking powder. = an action which will be necessary
I’ll never forget going to school on my own for the first time. = a memory of a past action
I regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful. = I am sorry to tell you. . .
We regret sending our daughter to that school. = we wish we hadn’t
Try to ice the cake quickly. = attempt to do it if you can
Try adding nuts as it will improve the flavour. = as an experiment
She stopped to have a rest.
Stop beating when the mixture is pale and fluffy. = finish doing it
They don’t meantoupset you. = they don’t intend to
If you go by train that meanstaking a taxi to the station. = it involves
He went on to tell them how to make a different cake. = the next thing he did was to tell them.
He went on cycling until he reached the farm. = he continued
I can’t help you (to) fix the car. = I don’t know how to fix the car or I don’t have the time to fix it.
I can’t help looking at you. = I cannot avoid/prevent it

 Verb + Object + -ing or Object + Infinitive (with a Difference in Meaning)

The following verbs always have an object (mainly to do with senses): feel, hear, see, watch

Notice the difference in meaning between verb + -ing and verb + infinitive:
e.g. She felt her passion dwindling away. = a continuing process over a period of time
She felt someone touch her shoulder. = short completed action

e.g. She heard her mother singing as she came downstairs. = continuing action

She heard the doorbell ring. = a short completed action

e.g. I watched the boys playing football. = an activity continuing over a period of time

I watched the boy kick the football into the road. = short completed action

e.g. They see their rights being taken away. = a continuing process over a period of time

They saw the cat kill the mouse. = short completed action

However, note that see also has a third possible usage with to + infinitive:

e.g. I went to see Colin to hand over the keys. = purpose of seeing someone/something
 Verb + that Clause

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We remind the reader that some verbs followed by “ing”/to-infinitive form can also change the later
into a “that” clause with the same meaning. Often “that” can also be omitted.

• I suggest adding some lemon juice. = I suggest (that) you add some lemon juice.
• I recommend using sultanas and apricots. = I recommend (that) you use sultanas and apricots.
• They agreed to leave early. = They agreed (that) they would leave early.

Examples:
 She kept talking when I was lecturing (kept = continued to talk). Or The attackers kept
hostages to prevent the police from entering (kept = retained/had possession of in order to)
 I regretted being late to the interview (regret is normally used with a gerund). Or We regret to
inform you that your position at the company is being eliminated reconsidered (regret= we wish
we did not have to tell you (bad news).

b) Infinitive without to:

We use infinitive without to:
 After all auxiliaries/ modals (can, could, might, shall, will, would, do/don’t, etc.

Examples:
 The Doctor must be in the operation room. You can wait a moment and ask that nurse who is
coming from the operation hall.

 We shall refer this patient to referral hospital immediately.

 I don’t want to catch diarrhoea again; that is why I am always cautious about washing my
hands.

 Verbs + object + infinitive without ‘to’ or gerunds: See, hear, notice, watch, hear, feel, observe

Examples:
 He said he watched the thieves take the key and then saw them drive away.
 I heard Peter sing a song.

 If you feel symptoms of hypoglycemia coming on,

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consume fast-acting carbohydrates (which quickly raise blood glucose)-such as a piece of hard
candy, 4 to 6 ounces of fruit juice, or five or six saltines-and see if you feel better.

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